The Siege
by Brin
Summary: Continuing from Freak Nation, this is the story of the transgenics inside Terminal City. New enemies, old friends, and an adventure none will soon forget...
1. The Gathering

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appear in the hit syndicated series Dark Angel (dagnabbit) , I only own the characters that I have created myself.

Summary: At the end of the season finale, we were left with a siege between the national guard and the transgenics. Now what? Inside the transgenics' new home forms romance, treachery, and an adventure none of them will very soon forget. M/A eventually. 

A/N: My season 3.

The Siege 

****

by

Brin 

****

Chapter 1: The Gathering 

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Alec tossed some more shards of wood onto the fire. They were running dangerously low on fuel. He wiped the dirt off his hands on his pants and plopped down next to Logan. "After the wood is gone we'll have to use the battery-powered heaters and lights. We want to save the generator and gasoline as long as possible," he declared, warming himself on the flames.

Logan, deep in thought, only grunted in reply.

"Alrighty then. Moving on," muttered the X5, standing up and going over to Mole. "Is everyone okay?"

Mole took the cigar from his mouth and glanced around. There were twenty or so fires dotting the floor of the parking garage they had taken refuge in, most of them surrounded by about ten transgenics. "Seems so. We could be better."

Alec nodded and let out a deep breath.

After a few more moments, seeing that he was not going to get anything more out of the brooding anomaly, Alec went over and sat down next to Max, who was talking in hushed tones with Joshua next to a slightly larger fire. "Hey, guys. You okay?" He patted Joshua on the shoulder. "Holding up, big fella?"

"Joshua holding up," replied the dog-man softly.

Max looked up at Alec and shrugged. "I'm fine, too. Thanks for asking. You wanna sit down?"

"Oh sure," he said, thankful that at least one person still had their manners intact. "So what's going on? Any plans yet?"

"Nope. Right now we're hoping for a miracle," Max replied sadly. "I don't think anything short of that will get us all out of here alive."

"Not all of us will walk away from this, Max," said Alec gently. "Sometimes it's the price you have to pay." He put his arm over her shoulders. "There's always a price to pay for happiness."

Joshua twiddled his thumbs. "Alec right. Anything worth keeping is never kept without a fight, Max," he said, remembering the words from one of Father's books. "You've got to battle for what you want."

"I know, Josh, but…" She waved her hand towards the other transgenics sitting around the fire. "Look at us. I don't want to lose _anyone_."

Alec glanced around warily. Across the fire was an anomaly with three babies—two in her arms and one in her lap. There were a few X6s huddled together a few feet away, sharing one dirty woolen blanket. A lizard-like transgenic sat chatting with Original Cindy, his mate sleeping peacefully with her head in his lap. Some younger anomalies laughed and had lively chats as they played a game of checkers. This building was seemingly the most tolerant; housing at least one of every different kind of transgenic.

"We shouldn't be here," said Joshua quietly. "None of us deserve this."

Before Max could reply, she heard Sketchy calling her name and quickly ran over to where he was focused intently on the television.

"Look," he said, his voice grave.

Max turned to watch.

"…chaos erupted today on the siege front as five transgenics armed with machine guns and carrying backpacks full of items stolen from a local convenience shop were apprehended by the national guard as they tried to enter Terminal City. The leader of them, wanting to be known as simply 599, injured ten police offers in his attempt. With the permission of the national guard, we were able to interview one of the prisoners," the reporter was saying. Behind her, a mob of people jeered at the camera, waving their anti-transgenic signs meaningfully.

The camera then switched to another reporter, standing next to a person who had a brace around his neck and his hands handcuffed behind his back. A police officer held a gun to his side.

Max's jaw dropped. "Krit," she whispered, touching the screen gingerly.

_Krit glared at the reporter, who shied away a bit. "What do you want?" the X5 barked._

_"I, uh, wanted to know if you were willing to answer some questions that the public has just been dying to know," replied the reporter, adjusting his glasses uncomfortably. "First of all, what's your name?"_

_"Let's keep it simple and you just call me 471," Krit replied, his voice hollow._

_"Okay…471. Tell us… why you are trying to get into Terminal City?"_

_"My family is in there. We were trying to get them supplies since you assholes are content to just let them starve to death in there while you sit out here drinking your wine coolers and complaining about how your toast is too hot," growled the X5, his eyes void of emotion._

_The reporter looked more than a bit taken back by this, but he continued his interview determinedly. "And what do you know of the transgenics inside?"_

_Krit raised an eyebrow. "Now why would I tell you that?"_

_"It's for the people. They want to know the truth."_

_Krit glanced over his shoulder at the jeering crowd. "Looks to me like they want to tear my head off."_

_"Please, just a few words, 471."_

_"Well," began Krit with a sigh, "I've been told that they have adults, teens, children, infants, and a few pregnant females." He paused long enough to shrug. "Just like a small town."_

_"Thank you," said the reporter, adjusting his glasses again. "Back to you, Sheryl."_

Joshua turned off the television. "No more. They want us dead! Like Biggs! They will hang us!"

"Calm down, Joshua." Max put her hand on his shoulder. "We'll make it, buddy. It will be alright," she said softly, but her voice sounded hopeless even to herself.

"What was that about 599?" asked Mole, who had come over to the television halfway through the interview. "Isn't that the one called Zack? Your brother? I remember having a run-in with him once back at Manticore. Tough guy."

"Yeah, yeah it is," whispered Max her throat suddenly dry.

"Look, guys, leave her alone," said Sketchy, putting his arm around Max. "This is hard on all of us. Let's just try to keep our sanity, alright?"

Mole and Joshua nodded before lumbering off.

"You alright, Maxie?" Sketchy asked.

Max's face went from sad to determined. "I'm gonna get Zack, Krit, and whoever else is with them inside." She took a deep breath to regain her composure. "The number one rule is that you _never_ leave a soldier behind or stranded in enemy territory."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After arming herself with a few handguns and a knife, Max walked through the groups of transgenics searching for people to accompany her. She had turned down Joshua and Mole's offers of coming with her, too afraid that they would get carried away by what they saw and/or heard. Besides that, Mole, given his temper, was very likely to just begin shooting into the crowd randomly. She couldn't risk any more tension between them and the public. Logan had offered to come, but she refused because, though his bionic legs gave him extra strength and speed, his upper body strength held no comparison to that of a fully-grown transgenic.

She found what she was looking for in a group of teenage transgenics roughhousing around in a dark corner of the parking garage. Teenage transgenics weren't necessarily as strong as the older ones, or as wise, but they had natural street-smarts and tended to be a bit more nimble than the transgenics who had reached 20-30 years old. Some of them looked like normal humans, but the majority resembled either cats, dogs, lizards, rodents, and some just deformed. Currently, a lizard-like girl and a young man with black spots all over his skin were arm wrestling. It seemed to be a stalemate; their arms remained vertical and almost completely still, but their faces were tight with effort. The rest of the teens were hooting and shouting or booing and jeering. One of them, a doggish young man of about 19, spotted Max and walked over.

"What can I do for you, beautiful?" he drawled.

"I'm looking for a few capable 'genics to help me spring five X5s from the police barricade," she said crossly. "You got what I want?"

"Xs… not my problem," declared the young man, crossing his arms over his chest and giving her a cocky grin.

"Don't give me that bullshit. I see those Xs over there cheering right along with you, and probably throwing most of the money on the board," barked Max, glaring at him menacingly. "Shall we do this the easy way or do you want me to bash your face in?"

The anomaly winked at her, then yelled over his shoulder, "Hank, Junky, Pick, and Eddie, come 'ere."

Max looked up as the four young transgenics jogged over.

"The name's Axle, by the way," said the first teen. "I was one of the less-successful models that came in-between the X5s and the X6s." He waved his hand over the three boys and one girl he had called over. "Hank, Junky, and Pick specialize in undercover ops and perimeter security. They're X6s."

Max nodded. The three boys looked as normal as could be.

"And this is Eddie, our lock pick," he put his hand on the shoulder of a young anomaly of about sixteen with cattish features and, of all things, a tail sticking out of a hole in her ratty jeans. "She'll get you in and out unnoticed."

"With _that_ tail?" asked Max, incredulous.

Pick glared at the X5 and took a step forward menacingly. "She can tuck it away."

Max held up her hands submissively. "Just asking." She looked them over. "Is this the best you have to offer?"

Eddie scoffed and swished her tail. "You think he'd call us if we weren't?"

Max grinned at the girl, then tossed each of them a loaded gun. "Let's go. We'll work out the details on the way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amos Mantilla of the national guard knelt behind a patrol car, his automatic fixed on Terminal City. He hated this work; it was like sitting there waiting for a monster to come out and eat him up. The past four days had been uneventful and slow, but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. This side of Terminal City had no protestors since it was the side farthest away from where the main transgenics were said to be camping; an old parking garage. Helicopter scouts had reported than there were several transgenic camps within the twenty blocks that made up Terminal City, but they had kept this information from the public to prevent the chaos from spreading.

"Hey, look!" called one of his comrades, jolting Amos out of his thoughts.

Amos looked up to see something jumping from roof to roof, coming towards them. "What the hell is that?" he mumbled, looking through his binoculars. At first glance he perceived it to be a large cat bounding from building to building with its long, heavy tail and pointed ears, but then he saw that it stood like a human and had hands and feet. "It's a transgenic!" he yelled, taking aim.

The group of guardsmen all readied their guns, but before the lot of them could get a good aim on the transgenic on the roof, four more sped out of the darkness in front of them and pummeled the surprised guardsmen senseless in a matter of seconds.

Max let her last victim slide to the ground. "That was too easy," she commented.

"Yep," replied Junky whilst arming himself with the abandoned guns. "I bet you they have snipers around here somewhere."

Eddie caught up with them and accepted an automatic from Hank. "The old distract and attack. Most basic strategy in the book."

"You see any snipers up there?" asked Max, stashing some bullets.

"There are three of them on the roof and they've got a lock on us as we speak," said Eddie, carefully adjusting her hood so that it better hid her face and darting her eyes to the building behind them.

"I'll take care of that," said Pick, cocking the trigger of his gun. He held it up and shot three times, but as he did two of the snipers also shot, striking Hank in the shoulder and Junky in the thigh. No more bullets, came, however, as Pick's aim was true and three guns fell from the sky. Curses and shouts of pain could be heard from the three snipers, as they dealt with the pain of having their hands shot.

"Shit," growled Junky through clenched teeth as he leaned on his good leg, pressing a hand into the hole in his thigh to stop the bleeding. "That'll leave a mark." He accepted a piece of cloth from Max and tied it around his wound while Hank did the same for his.

"All right?" asked the X5. "Good thing I brought bandages or else you two would be in for a nasty couple of days."

"We'll be fine," replied Hank.

"Okay. Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max pulled her hood down so that it covered all sides of her face as she maneuvered through the crowd of angry Ordinaries, slowly but surely making her way towards the front where the prison truck was. Behind her, Pick and Junky followed, though they kept their heads up because they were not yet known as transgenics. Hank had been posted as a last-resort sniper while Eddie, not exactly normal-looking, rode on Pick's back with her face buried in his jacket her tail tucked away underneath the oversized sweater she had borrowed from Junky.

"Almost there," Max mumbled, knowing that her companions' enhanced hearing would pick up her words. "Keep it cool."

They passed by a few reporters and finally came to the police barricade, where the anti-transgenic chanting was the loudest and most violent. On the ground were burning pictures of Joshua, Max, and Alec.

"That's sick," Eddie growled, though she didn't lift her face. "We oughtta take them all out."

"Ssh!" urged Max nervously. She peeked at the prison truck, which had been pelted with rotten fruits and vegetables and a few eggs, creating a rancid stench. "There it is. The only question is how to get there…" She glanced around and spotted at least ten more snipers situated on the roofs around them. Hank nodded at her from his position inside the second story of one of the warehouses. "Watch for the snipers. They're everywhere."

Pick looked around warily. "They could take us out in half a second and they're not going to hesitate."

Max's head snapped up as the prison truck suddenly began to sway back and forth, nearly tipping over and causing the crowd to panic. A smiled crossed her face. "They've seen us."

"Who?" asked Pick, moving from behind Max to her side.

"The other X5s. They know we're out here and they're helping us by making an escape attempt. Come on. This is gonna be quick and it's gonna be dangerous, so be on your toes," she announced. "Junky and Pick, I want you two to get the guns away from the cops. Don't take them out, though; the Ordinaries would storm the place. Eddie, come with me."

"What about my face?" asked the girl, peeking out from underneath her hood.

"Don't worry about it. As soon as we cross the barricade, it won't matter," said Max with a small grin as she pulled a gun from her jacket. "On two… One… t—"

Before she could say 'two,' however, the prison truck totally capsized and five familiar figures jumped out. The snipers fired and the police rushed to contain the panicking crowd while the national guard tried their best to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Go!" shouted Max. She, Junky, Hank, and Eddie joined the disarray. Bullets rained around them, but they moved so quickly the snipers could barely keep them in sight.

Max sped over to the five figures who had jumped out of the truck, nodded towards Terminal City and ran off. The other X5s were hot on her heels to escape the rain of bullets from the snipers. Eddie remained behind to help Junky and Pick while Hank jumped from the warehouse he had been stationed in, flying over the heads of the crowd and landing next to Junky. They stole guns from eight of the police officers then ran back into the safety of Terminal City.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've got injured soldiers over here, people!" called Max as she entered.

Joshua and Alec came rushing over, along with a few other anomalies carrying medical packs.

Max turned and, for the first time, looked over the five she helped to escape. Her jaw dropped. "Krit…Zack…Syl…Brin?"

Krit didn't say anything at first, but embraced his little sister in a tight bear hug. "Maxie, we were so damned worried about you! Your face was all over the national news. CNN, NBC, CNBC, ABC, MTV, you name it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can say the same for you," she said, gesturing to the bleeding hole in his shoulder.

"Just a scratch," he joked before going over to one of the anomalies holding a medical case.

Eddie, Hank, Pick, and Junky had returned by now. Hank was shot in the hand and Junky's kneecap had been shattered after a bullet had ricocheted off of one of the patrol cars, injuring his other leg. Eddie and Pick were fine and had helped their ailing friends get back into the city.

Max, after making sure that the X6s and anomaly were okay, turned to the remaining four X5s staring back at her. Zack, Brin, and Syl she recognized immediately, but the last one, a brunette, Max had never seen before… or had she? She peered more closely at the last transgenic. Her face was familiar. Dark hair and blue, far-set eyes… Max gasped as realization hit her. "Jondy?"

"Last I checked," said Jondy with a playful grin as she pulled Max into a hug. "I would cry, but you know it's just _so_ unbecoming of an X5…"

"You're Jondy alright," Max declared. "Who could mistake that sarcasm?"

"What, no hug for me?" interrupted Syl.

Max looked up and gaped. "Well what happened to you?"

Syl turned sideways and showed off her expanding belly proudly. "Do I really need to explain where babies come from, Max?"

The younger X5 laughed and gave Syl a hug. "Congrats, Syl!"

Syl winked at her. "Don't forget to tell Krit that, too. And from now on, I am Mrs. Krit Guavera."

Max gasped excitedly. "Are you serious?"

"As hell," replied Syl, displaying her wedding ring with a humongous diamond sitting on top of it. "We would've invited you, but it was a sort of last-minute thing."

"Excuse me, Miss?" interrupted a young transhuman with eyelids that blinked from side to side instead of up and down. "Are you hurt?"

Syl and Jondy turned to look at him.

"My back aches," said Syl with a shrug.

"I got nicked by a bullet on my arm," Jondy piped in.

"If you'll step this way, we have medical units waiting."

Jondy and Syl gave Max farewell glances before allowing themselves to be led off by the young anomaly, leaving Max alone…

With Brin and Zack.

Max uncomfortably shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," replied Zack, taking a tentative step toward.

"I… um… I thought you were working for that old farmer, Buddy, nowadays," said the younger X5, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear nervously.

"Me too," he said quietly. "That is, until I saw my little sister's face all over national television. It was a slap in the face. Then, three days later, Syl and Krit turn up on my doorstep telling me that we had to come here to help you out. The Manticore insert in my brain did its job; my memories were slowly returned. Only this time, I won't be trying to kill Logan, or anyone for that matter… well, with the exception of the Ordinaries intent on hanging us, of course."

"You remember trying to kill Logan?"

"Nope. Not a thing. Krit told me about it. He heard it from an X6 who heard it from an X5 who heard it from an anomaly who heard it from another X5 who heard it from Joshua who must've heard it from you or someone else here in the ever-lovely Seattle." He chucked and held his arms out invitingly. "Basically, it was the word on the street."

Max couldn't help but smile as she embraced him. "Glad to have my big brother back," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Over her shoulder she spotted Brin, who was looking back at her with apprehensive eyes.

Zack nodded, then looked between her and Brin, as they stared at each other without emotion. "I'll just be over here while you two sort things out." He pointed to his bloodied leg. "Got one in the thigh."

Max grinned at him ruefully as he limped away, then turned to Brin, who was gazing at the ground with a guilty look upon her face. "Look, Brin…"

The shorter X5 shook her head and held up her hand. "No, Max. Whatever you're gonna say… I just want to cut to the chase and say I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you killed. If I hadn't slowed you down then your X7 clone never would've caught you. I'm sorry."

Max just stared at Brin, astonished. "Baby sister… it's alright. It's not your fault. They brainwashed you."

Brin smiled tearfully. "Nevertheless, I'm sorry." She paused long enough to wipe her eyes. "Krit and Syl 'showed me the light,' so to speak, after Manticore was destroyed. Those two have really helped out, and now that we have you and Zack back on our side… I think we'll be okay."

They hugged each other, and Max was surprised to find something wriggling in the pack on Brin's back. "What's this?" asked the taller X5, turning Brin around. She started laughing when a little baby peeked out at her from inside its carrier. "How come everyone is having babies nowadays? Did I miss something?"

"Well, for most of us it's because of the breeding program they started before you burned the place down," said Brin with a shrug. "But for the lucky ones like Syl and Krit, it was by choice."

Max tickled the baby's chin and he giggled, grabbing her finger with pudgy hands. "He's a cutie. What's his name?"

Brin took off one of the carrier's shoulder straps and gingerly pulled the infant from the carrier, placing a kiss on his cheek. "His name is Ben."

"It's perfect," said Max, her smile widening. "Little Ben."

They stood in companionable silence a little while before Alec trotted over and handed Brin a change of clothes and some cotton blankets. "Here. You can freshen up downstairs; one of the special unit people put together a water purifier and we've been collecting rain. Thank God we live in Seattle."

"Thank you," said Brin, accepting the items. "See you, Max."

"If there's anything you need, just ask. Most of the people around here are friendly," called Alec as she left.

Max smiled up at him. "Since when did you become Mr. Hospitality?"

Alec raised an eyebrow and flicked her nose. "Since _you_ became the transgenic queen."

"Is that good or bad?" she asked, looking slightly disturbed by his statement.

"Good. Definitely. Would you rather have Mole as our leader?"

Max cringed. "I see your point."

"As you should, because the Smart Alec is always right."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Eddie and Pick sat on the rooftop of the parking garage, watching Joshua's flag wave in the chilly night wind.

"You think we'll ever be free?" Eddie asked, laying her head on his shoulder.

Pick played with a lock of her dark hair, twirling it around his fingers. "I think it'll cost both sides a lot, but one day we'll be free. Or maybe the new generation; the new babies without the barcodes will be free. Either way, one day this will have to end."

Eddie snuggled up to him and began purring. "We could start our own nation in Terminal City. Humans would die within a matter of months of being here. I bet even the people who guard the perimeter are gonna get sick from being so close."

"We should rename the place," Pick suggested, the idea making him grow excited. "A cool name that shows our pride, like Transgenic Central."

"Sounds like a high school," snorted the anomaly with a grin.

"Okay then, what about…" he chewed on his lip. "The City of Dark Angels?"

"Enticing, but without a beat."

Pick sighed. "Alright then, you try it."

"Me? I don't even have a name appropriate for my gender!" she exclaimed.

The X6 laughed and kissed her on the top of the head. "Well, it was a good idea anyway."

"I got an idea for ya," interrupted a voice, causing both teens to jump.

"Mole!" shouted Pick, embarrassed at having let his guard down. "What are you doing up here?"

"We have to make sure no one is missing," he said, taking the cigar from his mouth as he looked down at them. "Are you two lovebirds okay up here?"

Eddie blushed. "We're fine," she mumbled, turning away from the older anomaly.

Mole laughed heartily. "Good. I'll tell Max." He began to walk away, then, as if thinking better of it, turned back around and said, "If you guys want to rally the troops with a good name, try taking a good look around." With that, he turned and went down the ramp, leaving them alone.

Pick glanced up at the night sky, seeing only the brightest stars shining down upon them through the smog of Seattle. He put his arm around Eddie and whispered, "This place is our last hope. Some of us will die here and some of us are born here. It is our city. Our home.  Our Last Hope."

TBC…


	2. Toxic

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Many thanks to reviewers. Thank you to drkanglfn4evr for reminding me about the fact that Sketchy, OC, and Logan would get sick inside Terminal City. It would've been bad if I had them there, unaffected, and now I have a new plot twist! ^_^  And to Hearns, thanks for the advice!!! Oh yeah, and I'm really serious about needing a new name for Terminal City. The one I have is just so cheesy it's beginning to get on my nerves (tho I thank for sapphirefairy for liking it), lol. PLEASE HELP ME!

The Siege 

By

Brin 

"The only person you can rely on, Max, is yourself. Everything else is just a lie. It's phony sentimentality and it will get you killed." --Zack

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2: Toxic 

"If you got out so easily, then how come we all can't escape? With group effort, we could escape!"

Max pinned Mole with a glare. "Because 1) we have no where to go and 2) they shot almost every one of us while we were out there. We can't risk it."

"We're all going to go crazy in here," said the anomaly angrily. "The tension is enough to break an X7!"

"Look, Mole, the best thing we can do right now is find something constructive to do with our time, like maybe clean this place up?" She gestured to their grimy living conditions. "Terminal City is a twenty-block area. There has got to be mountains of useful stuff left behind. We should send out foragers."

Mole sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay. I'll do something 'constructive with my time,'" he grumbled. "Besides shoot someone, that is."

Max shook her head as he walked away, his trusty rifle resting on his shoulder like always.

"Some of them never learn," commented Alec, who had been watching the exchange silently from a torn up couch a few feet away. "You should keep an eye on him."

"Always," she replied, rubbing her throbbing temples. "I have a feeling that he's going to do something bad before this is over. Real bad."

"Naw, don't be so negative," said the male X5, grinning broadly as he got up and walked over to her. "There are like several hundred of us here in Terminal City. It's not like just one of us is going to cost the entire group their life."

Max didn't look so sure.

"Look, you need to relax. We're going to be here awhile," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You're our only hope, Max."

"And I keep telling myself that and I think I'm about ready to hunt down this Sandeman guy and kill him myself for bringing this down on my head… that is, if he's still alive," she said quietly.

Alec chuckled. "Ah, it'll be okay. You'll see. You're Super Girl. Nothing gets by you." When she still didn't smile, he continued, "Girls kick ass. Says so on a t-shirt, right?"

Max turned around to face him and grabbed his hands with hers. "Alec, I need you to do something for me," she said, her voice filled with a sense of urgency.

Alec, staring down at their joined hands, could barely croak, "Anything."

"I want you to go down to the X camp and take care of the problems there. This place is divided among kinds—about ten different camps, like Mole said. There is no way we are gonna get through this alive if we are divided. I bet you that some of the transgenics here don't even know what is going on outside!" she exclaimed. "You do know how important it is that you reach them, right?"

Alec gulped. "A whole camp of Xs… that's kinda dangerous, don't you think?"

"But you can handle it, right?" She punched him on the shoulder, her demeanor suddenly becoming playful. "After all, that Familiar girl didn't kick your ass. You were just setting her up, am I right?"

"Yep. Just setting her up," Alec replied, puffing his chest out proudly.

Max smiled. "So can I count on you?"

"Always."

"Thank you, Alec. I know Xs aren't exactly the easiest people to work with so these might help you out…" She handed him some handcuffs. 

Alec grinned rakishly. "Now why might a pretty girl like yourself being carrying around a pair of these?"

Max's eyes widened in shock and she hit him upside the head. "You perv!"

"Hey, lay off!" cried the young man, ducking her hand as she tried to hit him again. "Just a thought."

Max glared at him, then softened and placed her hand on his forearm. "Good luck, Mr. Ambassador to the Xs."

Alec chuckled. "Thanks. I'll need it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Security has been tightened around the perimeter of Terminal City today after four transgenics rescued their five captured comrades from the temporary prison they had been held in. The police barricades have been placed ten meters back and even the press is not allowed closer than thirty meters from the edge of the perimeter without consent from an officer of the national guard. This action, however, has done nothing to lessen the angry protestors. In fact, it seems that the crowd has grown in the past few hours, the people angry that these transgenics slipped through so easily. Many of them have been saying that if action is not taken soon, the citizens of Seattle will have to take matters into their own hands."

Eddie, Pick, Hank, Junky, Axle, and about thirty other transgenics sat staring at the news reporter, Jan Corrigan, that had become their sole source of information about the world outside Terminal City's perimeter. She was a familiar sight and kept the transgenics occupied for the slowest parts of the day. Today she was interviewing a 'scientist' who had allegedly 'analyzed' the transgenics.

"So, Dr. Vantriez, tell me about what you have discovered," Jan said to the man of about forty or so sitting across from her.

"I have been doing some extensive research, including gathering some information from old Manticore associates who have been willing to share," he replied slowly. "What I have done is classify the different types of transgenics Manticore has managed to create." He held up a large piece of cardboard with different pictures pasted to the front and pointed to a picture of…

"Eddie, that's you!" exclaimed Hank, looking over at the girl, who was nestled in Pick's arms like a kitten.

Eddie's jaw dropped, her turquoise eyes growing wide. It was a picture of her just a week before the main Manticore building was burned down. She had just come in from a training mission and her hair was disheveled, a smear of blood across her cheek. Her eyes reflected the flash of the camera, making her entire eye seem an eerie blue/green color. The effect was startling.

"This specimen can be referred to as an anomaly," continued Dr. Vantriez.

"And what exactly is an anomaly?"

"Well, the definition provided in the dictionary for 'anomaly' is 'one that is peculiar, abnormal, irregular, or difficult to classify.' This describes these creatures perfectly. As you can see here, this female anomaly's features are based on that of a humans—the locations of the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are correct—but the shapes are much different. Notice the vertical pupils, pointed ears, and angled facial shape.

"These anomalies are the disgrace of Manticore; the failures. They are like horrific scars on Manticore's records and most were kept hidden deep inside the basement. We have, however, come across models that are meant to look the way they do for military reasons, such as camouflage. Most of the anomalies, though, are deformed and useless beings that Manticore kept only to perform experiments on."

Pick tightened his hold around Eddie's waist as the girl began to shiver in his arms. "It's okay, Eddie," he whispered in her ear. "That ass doesn't know anything. Don't listen to him. He is just saying what the public wants to hear."

"Tell us about the infamous Xs."

Dr. Vantriez pointed to a picture of a young X. "The X series are Manticore's most deadly units. They are trained as soldiers from day one. Each different X version was given a blast of DNA from a different animal. So far, I have learned that the X5s were mostly cat, the X6s dog, and the X7s bats and other hive-minded creatures. I have reason to believe that they have developed up to X9s, but for sure they have X8s, which are no more than young children right now. The thing about these Xs is that they are indiscernible from humans and could be your next-door neighbors for all we know.

"On another note, before the hospital was destroyed ten months ago, Manticore began a breeding program to create new DNA for their latest X-series. I can estimate that over one hundred X babies have been born since then. These things are breeding, and there is nothing we can do to stop them. I was told that breeding is most likely a battle strategy for them; they are increasing their numbers to better launch an assault or to weaken the enemy resolve since no one likes to kill babies, no matter how unnatural and illegitimate they are."

Axle growled deep in his throat like a wolf.

"Sniveling, inbred coward," muttered Hank angrily.

"The thing is, breeding these creatures is like trying to hybrid hybrids. We have no idea what these babies will look like; they could be even worse than the parents. The risk is even higher if we have anomalies and Xs mixing…the spawn could be the most dangerous and deformed creatures yet. And besides, having anomalies and Xs mixing is like breeding a cat and dog. It just isn't what nature intended."

"So you don't know exactly what to expect?" Jan tapped a pencil against her chin.

Dr. Vantriez sat back in his chair. "Nope. All I have to say is that these things are quite possibly the most deadly and disgusting, horrific creatures on the Earth and we must take them out at all costs."

"That's it." Axle turned off the TV. "I think we've seen enough for today."

The other transgenics nodded their agreement and dispersed, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Hank put his hand on Axle's shoulder. "You okay, man?"

Axle nodded and mumbled, "Peachy," before stalking away. Hank shot Junky a worried glance and they tentatively followed their friend, though it was a bit of a challenge due to their recent injuries.

"It's sick, what they do," growled a transgenic with white skin and hair, fanning himself with a piece of paper. "I'd like to get my hands on one of them Ordinaries and see how much he has to say when I rip his tongue out."

"Hey!" yelled Pick, getting the Arctic transgenic's attention. "None of that!"

"How'd he find all that out?" a rat-like anomaly asked, whiskers twitching. "I mean, he pretty much covered everything even if he didn't go into meticulous detail."

"Probably used to be a back-up scientist or someone on the outside ring of the Manticore secret," said Pick with a shrug. "Either that, or one of the researchers doesn't have a problem with being chopped into little pieces by Manticore 'associates' for ratting on them." He looked at the rat anomaly and grinned in spite of himself. "No offense."

"None taken."

Eddie clung to Pick's arm, her tail swishing back and forth lazily. "You think it's true what they said?"

Pick tilted her head up to look at him. "What?"

"About the Xs and anomalies? About them being together?"

"Don't worry about it, baby," he said, kissing her on top of the head. "That asshole doesn't know shit."

Eddie sighed sadly.

They looked up as Max came over, a gentle smile upon her face. "Hey, guys," she said, her voice quiet. "I never got the chance to say thanks for helping me out yesterday. So… thanks for helping me out yesterday. You don't know how much it meant to me."

Pick nodded. "Glad for a little action."

Max looked back and forth from Pick to Eddie curiously. "If you don't mind me asking… are you two…?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, we are," replied Pick with a little grin. "Why?"

The X5 shrugged. "I just need to know these details. It's a girl thing."

"What about you and Alec?" teased Eddie. "I saw you two talking earlier. He had his hands on your shoulders, then you were holding hands…"

Max's eyes widened. "No, no, no! Me and Alec? No! Where did you get that idea? No! Absolutely not!" she insisted, her cheeks flushing light pink. Pick and Eddie gave her incredulous looks. "Well, maybe we're attracted to each other, but we'd never… it's just…" She groaned and threw her hands in the air. "Never mind."

Eddie and Pick's laughter followed the X5 as she hurried off, her face turning from pink to red.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec came to the crumbling hotel that Mole said housed the majority of the X series in the city. Checking to make sure he still had his gun tucked inside his jacket, he went up and knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened a crack and two dark blue eyes peered out at him suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"X5-494," Alec said, holding up his hands as a sign of submissiveness. "I need to speak with the X leader here."

"What business do you have with him?"

"I have been instructed by X5-452, the leader of Terminal City, to give him an important message."

"I can deliver the message for you."

Alec placed his foot in the door. "Unless you want me to call 452 down here, I suggest you let me inside. I mean you no harm."

There was a long silence before the door was reluctantly opened. Alec looked down at the young X8, who was glaring up at him menacingly. "Follow me," the kid instructed before turning and walking away.

"Kids today," mumbled the X5. "No respect."

The X8 continued to glare at him as he led Alec through a series of dark, broken hallways before they went up two flights of stairs and entered the third floor. The X5 was surprised to find this floor filled with Xs of every kind, conversing amongst themselves contentedly. As he and the small X8 walked down the corridor, they turned and looked at him strangely.

"Hey! It's Alec!" He heard someone shout.

The X5 turned to see Bugler, Bullet, Fixit, Zero, and Ralph smiling at him from one of the rooms. He waved at them and was prepared to go over for a more friendly greeting, but was dragged forward by his X8 guide. "Whoa, slow down there buddy!" he said, annoyed.

After a few more twists and turns and even a some more dirty looks, they came to a door that seemed in better condition than the rest. "This is the place," said the younger X before running off.

"That kid has got to take a vacation," mumbled Alec before opening the door before him.

Inside, he found that the room had been relatively cleaned up; the floor was clear of debris and the cracks in the walls had attempted to be covered up with dirty paintings and ripped tapestries. There was also a rusting steel bed with a molded mattress and rotting desk. Sitting at the desk was a young man about Alec's age with golden hair and piercing bluish green eyes.

"Hello," he said, his face emotionless. "State your business."

Alec moved forward. "I'm X5-494, sent by X5-452. I deliver a request of unity between the transgenics; the Xs and the anomalies most of all."

"Unity? 494, there is no need for us to unite."

"Look, the Ordinaries are getting real impatient out there and sooner or later they're gonna snap and burn this place to the ground. Do you want that?" Alec reasoned.

"We Xs can take care of ourselves. The anomalies are the ones who the public hate, with their deformed faces. You should know that very well, 494. After all, I can only assume you've spent some time with them."

"Okay, buddy, I don't have all day…"

"Call me 205."

Alec idly noted that 205 was one of the '09 Manticore escapees, but thought nothing more of it. "Okay, 205, I don't like your attitude about this whole thing, so I'm going to give you an ultimatum: You surrender and give us power over your Xs and I won't totally humiliate you by beating your tight ass into the concrete."

205 scoffed. "You are going to beat my ass into the concrete?"

Alec stood up straight. "I'm dead serious about this. I'm not going to waste my time preaching to you. Yes or no."

The other X5 sat forward, an incredulous look upon his face. "No. The anomalies are not the responsibility of the Xs."

"Fine. Then I'll just have to kick your ass from your throne right here." He bent his knees and got into a fighting stance. "Fight me."

"Are you actually challenging me, 494?" 205 asked, his tone mocking. "I've already established my place as ruler of the Xs here. You won't win."  
  


"Heard it a million times, buddy," growled Alec. "Now shut up and fight."

205 rose from his seat and tossed the desk away like a twig. "Okay then. I've been waiting for some action around here."

They sped forward at Manticore speed and grabbed each other's necks, the impact almost breaking both their necks. It was then a contest of strength as they pushed each other around the room; into the walls and the few pieces of furniture present. Finally, Alec flipped his foot out and tripped 205, causing the other X5 to go tumbling onto the bed. X5-494 then proceeded pin 205 to the mattress, only to have 205 kick him in the back and send him flying face-first onto the floor next to the shattered desk.

"Now that… was not nice," growled Alec, brushing the splinters of wood from his face.

205 kicked him in the chin so that he lay flat on the ground on his back, then bent the steel bed over him as a makeshift cage before he could jump to his feet. "Looks like you're caught."

Alec glared up at him through the bars. "Cheater."

"Ooh…too bad."

"Okay…then you won't mind if I do…this!" Alec kicked the steel frame with all his might, causing it to roll off of him and onto 205, who was knocked to the ground with his legs caught underneath.

"This won't hold me!" growled 205, trying to wriggle his way free.

"Nope, but this will." Alec pulled out the handcuffs and handcuffed 205 to the bed frame.

205 scoffed. "Are you serious? This won't hold me anymore than without the handcuffs."

"I'm not finished," said Alec in a singsong voice teasingly. He took the bed dragged it—along with 205, of course—over to the window and bent the steel posts around on the bars on the window. "Isn't it great how post-Pulse Seattle hotels have bars on the windows? I mean, doesn't it just make you feel safe?"

205 glared at him.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll just be off convincing 'your' Xs that their leader is a dumb asshole and they should join with me. Have a nice day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max was busily scribbling down what she needed Mole to find in the abandoned city on an old, half-burnt sheet of paper when she heard someone come to stand behind her. Surprised, the female X5 whirled around and raised her fist, ready to strike.

"Whoa! Calm down!" shouted Logan, backing away.

"Logan! After all this time I think you would've learned not to do that! What if I had touched you?! Think about it for a minute!" Max exclaimed with a bit more anger than she had intended.

Logan turned his eyes to the ground. "Yeah… sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Max sighed and ran her fingers through her long hair. "Look, Logan, this place doesn't have miracle doctors or what I would call the best medical equipment in the country. If I touched you, it would be near impossible to get you a transplant or antidote. You would die."

"I'd die a happy man," he replied softly.

The X5 shook her head and took a step back from him. "Logan…."

"Max, no matter what happens, what you say, or what others say… I will never stop loving you. I guess you have that affect on lots of guys… Zack… me." He looked up at her with a rueful smile. "I just hope you are happy with the one you choose, whomever it may be."

"Don't do this, Logan," she whispered.

"Don't what? Don't speak the truth?" he growled. "You want me to lie to you? Like you lied to me?"

Max took a moment to compose herself before replying, "No. I want you to forget about any chance of us being together. It would only cause problems, Logan."

Logan, tears shining in his eyes, nodded. "I understand that. But what I said before still stands. I will never stop loving you. I may move on and take another wife, but you will always hold the better part of my heart, Maxie."

"And I hope that doesn't prevent you from finding the perfect wife and having perfect little kids," she said quietly. "But you could be worlds happier without me, Logan. I don't belong with you."

Logan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay. Just keep telling yourself that… I'll try to believe it as well." He turned to walk away, passing by Dalton in the process.

"Hey, Logan, you look kinda pale," commented the young X6 without actually showing much interest in the man. "You getting sick?"

"What?" Logan turned around.

Max squinted at him and gulped, a scared feeling coming over her. "Yeah, you do look sort of sick…are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," he said stubbornly. "What's the problem?"

Dalton handed Max the giant bag of month-old jelly beans he had been munching on and walked over to the man, checking for Logan's pulse and feeling his forehead. "I don't exactly have a medical degree, but I know a sick man when I see one."

Logan's eyes widened. "You don't think…?"

"What?" Dalton looked to Max.

Max stared at the ground, then her eyes snapped up, full of fear. "The toxins. Logan, this place isn't safe!" She hit herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. "I don't know why I didn't realize it before. You can't stay here! You'll die!"

"Well where am I gonna go, Max?!" he exclaimed. "It's not like I can just walk out there and go home! They saw me helping you."

"Logan, you are not going to die here. Not now. I am getting you out of this place, whether you like it or not. There are still a few good souls out there. You can stay with Shankar or Sebastian… Anywhere but here," said the X5 with so much authority that Logan could do nothing but nod his head. "Now where's OC?"

"Over there," Dalton pointed across the room, where Original Cindy was talking with Gem and playing with the baby.

"Alright… she looks fine… sort of… so where's Sketchy?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie, Pick, and a few other transgenics were sitting around a table playing cards and munching on their daily rations, which included a few pieces of bread, beef jerky, and canned vegetables—things that didn't need refrigeration since they had unplugged the 'fridge to save the generator.

"Royal flush," said Pick, triumphantly placing his cards on the table.

The other transgenics groaned and handed over the smashed bottle caps they were using as a primitive form of money. The adult transgenics thought it was silly and a waste, but teenage transgenics had already set up booths selling things like blankets found in abandoned buildings and sometimes their daily rations. Then, they would pay the people who found the items for sale for them, etc, etc. It was very much like a normal market.

"Ha, ha winner takes all, boys!" Pick cried, dumping the caps in his collecting bag.

"Better watch out Ed," said one of the transgenics, who looked like a normal human besides the fact that he didn't have a nose. "Your boyfriend here seems like the gambling type."

Eddie smiled. "Don't worry. I'll deal with that later."

The gathered transgenics all said 'ooh' and punched Pick on the shoulder with several claims of 'It'll be okay' and 'We know you'll make it out alive.'

"Ha, ha, very funny you guys," he muttered.

Eddie tickled his nose with her tail and stood, looking around the table. "Any more takers?" She jingled the bag and raised her eyebrows. "No one?" A long, silent pause. "Okay then! I'll just be buying myself a block of Terminal City, thank you very much."

The transgenics laughed and Eddie plopped back down into her seat.

"Well, I'm broke so I'm going to go be a poor little transgenic over there," said the one without the nose bemusedly, pushing his chair out. The others followed the suit, leaving Eddie and Pick alone.

They were not alone for long, however, for, as soon as the other transgenics were gone, Max's Ordinary friend Sketchy tiptoed over, trying to look inconspicuous.

"What do you want, maggot?" growled Pick.

Sketchy, who was staring at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing in the world, looked at Pick, and then glanced behind him. "Me?"

"No, the invisible monster standing behind you."

"Ha, ha, that's funny…yeah, that's…" Sketchy cleared his throat and sauntered over to their table. "So…what's up? Doing the transgenic thing?"

Pick and Eddie stared at him.

Sketchy, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, chewed on his lip a bit, trying to think of something so say.

"You never answered my question," the X6 reminded him, his voice harsh.

"I—uh…" He shook his head and decided to throw the 'casual' approach out the window for the moment and just get straight to the point. "I wanted to see if I could interview you… ya know, just in case some large, popular news station asks me? I've asked everyone else… could you guys possibly be kind souls and agree to the interview?"

Pick sighed and pointed to a chair. "Sit." Sketchy sat. "Okay, talk fast."

Sketchy pulled a notepad and pencil from his pocket, reading over the questions he had scribbled down there a few times before saying, "So what's it like?" He pulled a pen from behind his ear and placed it on the table.  
  


"What's what like?"

"Being a transgenic; knowing that you were created in a lab."

Pick sat back in his chair and rubbed his face, occasionally glancing at Eddie, who was staring at the floor nervously. "Well…it's sort of like…" He ran his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. "It's like feeling normal, thinking normal, and for some of us even looking normal, but never actually being normal. We love, we hate. We live, we die. We have families, we have friends. The only thing that sets us apart is our appearance and the fact that we were created in test tubes."

"Uh huh…" Sketchy was scribbling things down like crazy.

"To be a transgenic is sort of a blessing and a curse at once," finished Pick.

Sketchy nodded and looked up. "Are you two together?" he asked, gesturing with his pencil.

"Yes," replied Eddie, her voice soft.

"Ooh…this is good. This is real good," mumbled Sketchy, flipping through a few pages in his notebook. "So what's it like to be two young transgenics caught between a rock and a very hard place?"

Eddie rested her head on Pick's shoulder. "It's the same as if we were Ordinaries. We have no clue what's going to happen, no idea if we both will live through this, and no doubt that things will get worse before they get better. I mean, it's not like just because we are transgenics that we can tell the future or anything," she said with a shrug.

"There are a lot of questions surrounding the breeding of transgenics. Could you tell us about it?"

Pick glared at him. "First of all, we don't like it being referred to as 'breeding,' 'mating,' or anything like that. We are not animals. Second of all, I don't think the public needs me to explain where babies come from. And finally, it's no different than Ordinaries hooking up, getting married, and having families. You people need to get it through your head: We are not totally unnatural!" he growled.

Sketchy licked his lips. "You know, people have a real stereotyped image of transgenics. Is there anything you'd like to say to them? Anything that is on your mind?"

 "Now you sound like a reporter, Sketch," Pick said with a chuckle. He took a moment to compile the words for his response. "If I could say anything to those Ordinaries out there, I'd tell them that we are not the monsters they think we are. If they'd give us a chance, we could be of help to them. Our blood holds immunities to horrible diseases; the cure for paralysis! All we ask is a normal life…or as normal as possible."

"That was good. That was really good," claimed Sketchy excitedly, putting away his things. "I really thank you guys for the interview. Everyone else tried to bite my head off when I asked."

The two young transgenics nodded.

"Sketchy!" called a voice.

The three turned to see Max running towards them waving her arms. "Sketchy, you've gotta come with me," she said, grabbing his arm. "We have got to get you, Logan, and OC out of here ASAP."

"Why?" asked the young man, his heart dropping.

Max started dragging him away. "Because this place is toxic and we've kept you in here long enough. Logan is sick, OC is borderline sick, and we can't risk you! You can't stay here."

"Where am I gonna go?" he asked, jerking his arm away. "Max, if we go back out there we'll be arrested and thrown in jail!"

Max gave him a desperate look. "Sketch, I brought all this upon you. It's my fault, and I will get you outta here safe and sound. I already told Logan; there are still a few good souls out there in post-Pulse Seattle." She started leading him away again when she heard Joshua calling her name. Veering off-course, she made a beeline for him, pulling Sketchy with her. "What is it, Josh?"

Joshua pointed to the television. "Uh-uh, Normal. Normal on TV."

The X5 glanced at the screen, then back at Joshua, then did a double take. Normal was on television, alright, and he was holding not an anti-transgenic sign, but apparently a pro-transgenic sign that proudly stated 'TOLERANCE IS THEY KEY! THEY ARE OUR SAVIORS!'

"Well I'll be damned," said Sketchy, grinning. "Normal is a lot more loyal to Alec than we thought. After this, Alec owes the man a dinner and afterwards—"

Max smacked Sketchy on the head, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that for a moment here." She pulled out her cell phone and checked the batteries. Just enough for one more call. "I think I found someone who'd be willing to take you in..."

Sketchy's eyes widened. "Normal?! NO!"

The X5 grinned evilly. "Yep. I think so."

TBC…


	3. Turn it Up

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: 

**a.** This chapter will focus mainly on the development of the transgenics inside, with lots o' Max/Alec tension. The next chapter will bring out some more of the plot. Please don't yell at me! .

Summary of this chapter: Eddie helps Max get OC, Sketchy, and Logan away from Terminal City. Max takes a breather now that she doesn't have to worry about them, but her relaxation is short-lived, for total chaos erupts when she finds that having hundreds of transgenics in one place is not the best idea…especially when many of them are in heat. M/A tension.

The Siege 

****

by

Brin 

"I've got people looking to either put me in a cage for the rest of my life, turn me into a science project, or kill me. Probably all three." –Max

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 3: Turn it Up 

Max checked her three friends over once again. "You look disguised enough," she mumbled, adjusting Sketchy's bullet-proof vest.

It had been out of pure chance that Hank had stolen the three uniforms from the snipers he had subdued, and luckily he hadn't sold them yet. So now OC, Logan, and Sketchy stood dressed as national guards.

"Haven't we tried this already?" complained Sketchy, tugging at his helmet. "I am gonna have major helmet hair after this and you are going to buy me five bottles of my favorite shampoo, Max."

"Will do, Sketch," replied the X5, stuffing a ten-dollar bill into his hand. "Now, Normal should arrive with transportation soon after you get there so try not to be nervous."

"Yeah, but won't it look suspicious if three popos just saunter out of Terminal City like we down with the transgenics in here?" asked OC, incredulous.

Max grinned. "That's where the fun part comes in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie glared at Max. "You owe me big time."

"Yeah, get in line," growled Cindy.

"If I get killed, Pick is gonna kill you," continued the anomaly. "That is, after Axle, Junky, and Hank take turns hanging you from different bodies parts from a light post."

Max laughed and patted her on the head. "Nice kitty."

Eddie hissed at her.

"You guys, this is not gonna be that hard. There is no crowd on this side of the blockade because there's no press coverage and the buildings around it are totally trashed," said the X5. She ripped a long strip of cloth from a blanket and used it to 'gag' Eddie. "Don't bite through it."

Eddie continued to glare at her. "Vrrmm rrur mmmum!"

"Sorry, I don't quite understand you," teased Max, tying Eddie's hands together with a piece of rope, then her ankles. "Now don't worry about these knots. They'll come right out, but because of that you have to be really careful." She stepped back to admire her work. "Yep, you look like an honorary captive."

"You do know she's gonna maul your eyeballs out after this, right boo?" asked OC, backing up from the brooding anomaly.

"Nah. She loves me too much," joked the X5, pinching Eddie's cheek. "Okay, so you guys ready?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Colonel Briggs!"

Colonel Davis Briggs looked up from his conversation as he heard his name being called. "Yes?"

"I'm um… Special Agent… Dimmesdale."

The colonel glanced at Terminal City, realizing that that was where the voice was coming from. "Are you in there?"

"Yes. Me and my… helpers were on a… secret mission. Very secret. Can't… say anything about it because it's so secret. We have here with us a subdued transgenic who needs to be taken… away for… testing."

Colonel Briggs looked at his comrades, who shrugged. "Okay, then. Bring it out."

The guardsmen got into position as four figures emerged from Terminal City. Three national guards and a limp transgenic bound hand and foot.

"How did you do that?" asked the colonel, staring at the transgenic.

"Well," said 'Dimmesdale,' "It wasn't easy; I'll tell you that much. This little kitty put up a good fight." He adjusted his goggles. "Now, if you don't mind, we'll just be off."

Colonel Briggs stopped him. "Wait. I've never heard of a Special Agent Dimmesdale. Can I see your badge?"

'Dimmesdale' glanced to his two companions, then dug around in his pockets. "Yeah, right here." He pulled out his badge.

"There's no ID with this," said Briggs suspiciously. "I'll need to see your ID. We had a little trouble with transgenics earlier and we just want to make sure."

"Um…" 'Dimmesdale' bit his lip. "Well…"

Suddenly, Eddie's head snapped up and she glared at Briggs, her body trying to wriggle free of her restraints.

"Whoa! You'll need to step back, Colonel. We need to get this transgenic away from this place ASAP. She could be a biohazard." 'Dimmesdale' stepped past the barricade, dragging the transgenic with him. "Thank you for your time, Colonel. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you. Our car is just ahead." And with that, they turned the corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Original Cindy hurried to help Eddie untie herself while Logan stood watch. Sketchy took off his helmet and goggles.

"You don't belong in these, girl," OC said, untying the gag. "Ain't no reason these people should accept treating ya'll like this."

Eddie slipped off the ropes around her wrists and ankles. "If only they believed that." She grabbed OC's handgun. "Will you miss this?"

"I think you be needing it more than me," replied Cindy. She pulled Eddie to her feet. "You got this?"

"Oh, yeah," Eddie cocked the trigger. "You guys gonna make it alright, 'Dimmesdale?'"

Logan chuckled. "Yeah. Normal should be here soon."

"I don't know how I am gonna live with that man," growled OC. "The guy worships Alec as a pastime."

"Well, they've most likely stormed yours and Max's apartment already and wired it so that if you ever come back they'll know," said Logan with a shrug. "And my place—or lack thereof—is out. Normal is our best bet."

"Hey, what about me?" whined Sketchy. "I have a 'place.'"

"Yeah, which hasn't had water or phone connection for over a year," said Cindy, rolling her eyes at him. "Which is understandable, since you spend most of your time sponging meals off your girlfriends anyway."

Eddie laughed. "Do you need me to stay with you until he comes?" she asked, getting down to business.

Logan shook his head. "We'll be okay. You better get back before they get worried about you."

The young anomaly smiled, gave them a rueful parting glance, then turned to climb up a nearby building.

"Whoa," mumbled Sketchy as they watched her go. "She really is part cat."

Eddie scampered up the brick swiftly and easily using only her hands. Her tail and legs hung limply beneath her as she used her claw-like nails to create holds in the wall and pull herself upward.

"Damn, I wish I could do that," said OC, her mouth hanging wide open. "I don't think even Max is _that_ feline."

Eddie reached the top of the building, pulled herself up, and poked her head over the edge. "You're collecting flies," she called.

OC and Sketchy shut their mouths. 

"Good job." The anomaly laughed. "See you later."

The three humans nodded, then jumped in surprise as a gray van turned down the ally and sped towards them. They quickly moved out of the way and the vehicle screeched to a halt a few feet away.

"You looking for a ride?" asked Normal, poking his head out. "'Cause I have a ride here, by order of Missy Miss."

"I wish I wasn't," muttered OC.

"Get in the van, you ungrateful," he said.

Logan and OC quickly got in, but Sketchy spared one more glance towards the top of the building. Eddie was still standing there, watching them.

"You know, I think this is the start of something the world has never seen," said Sketchy, wiggling his fingers at the anomaly. "Because if all of these people are like Max, maybe… Seattle isn't such a bad place to live anymore." He smiled and slowly got into the van.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie turned and walked away as the vehicle drove off. She crept to the other edge of the building and found five snipers posted there. Two of them were taking a break but the other three were set.

"And just when I thought I could get outta here without a bullet added to my skeleton," mumbled the transgenic irritably. She crouched low and was planning to sneak past them when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, the transgenic spotted a sixth sniper approaching with his gun aimed at her chest.

"Hold up your hands!" he shouted. When she didn't respond, he repeated, "Hold up your hands! Keep them where I can see them!"

Eddie sighed and put her hands on the top of her head. "You're making a big mistake, officer."

The sniper moved forward. "Get on your knees. Now!"

Rolling her eyes, the anomaly got down on her knees. By now the other five snipers had been alerted and three of them came over to help, stationing themselves behind Eddie in case she tried anything.

"I'm serious, officer. This is a big mistake. If you capture me, every transgenic in the city will retaliate. They'll find you, hang you by your eyeballs, and go about their merry way," she said.

"Shut up! You have no right to speak!" shouted the first sniper, moving forward. He picked up a metal bar from the ground.

"Oh come now. Just because I'm only half-human doesn't mean I don't have rights, does it, officer? You don't really believe that, do you?" she whined, poking out her bottom lip.

"I said be quiet!"

"What's your name?" asked the transgenic innocently.

After a moment's hesitation, the man replied, "Officer Hayden."

Eddie smiled. "Nice to meet you, Officer Hayden. I'm Eddie, an anomaly, but if had been born without this face and tail they probably would've called me X6-301." Her pointed ears moved back and forth as she judged the positions of the snipers.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to some backup," she heard one of them saying into a walkie-talkie, followed by some static.

"Oh this is great," muttered the transgenic.

"Alright, _Eddie_, I'm going to approach and handcuff you. I want you to keep your hands on your head. Any sudden movements and we will be forced to fire," warned Officer Hayden, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Eddie waited until he was standing right in front of her before responding, "Did you know that transgenics can move faster than a cheetah, about 90 mph?"

The officer opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly Eddie punched him in the face, elbowed him in the stomach, and kneed him in the groin in less than two seconds.

"And that, my friend, is how fast we move," she said as she ran towards the other officers like a blur, pulling their guns from their hands and knocking them unconscious. The remaining two snipers turned and started shooting, but Eddie barreled forward at top speed and hurled herself from the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max stared in shock as Eddie, arms held out, did a perfect swan dive from the top of the five-story building, bullets following her down. "Oh no…oh, no she did not just do that!" she said aloud, frantically looking around for something useful to do. When she found nothing, the X5 looked up hopelessly as the transhuman plummeted downward.

Eddie tucked her head and pulled her body back, causing her shoulders to strike the ground first. On impact, she threw her body forward again, rolling a few times before coming to lie flat on the ground, face-down.

"Don't be dead, don't be dead," Max cried, running over. She dragged the girl inside a nearby Terminal City building, turned her onto her back, and tapped her on the face a few times. "Eddie? Eddie!" She raised her hand to slap the seemingly unconscious girl, only to have Eddie's voice make her arm stop mid-descent.

"Don't you dare hit me again," growled the anomaly, eyes remaining closed.

Max shouted triumphantly. "You're alive! What the hell were you thinking?"

"My shoulders have been dislocated, along with my arms and fingers," mumbled Eddie, ignoring Max's rage.

The X5 cringed. "Hm…taking contortion to a whole new level?"

"Yep… Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be back in one piece."

"By all means, go ahead. I don't look forward to being killed by your boyfriend," mused the X5.

Eddie nodded and closed her eyes in concentration.

Max watched, amazed, as Eddie pulled herself back together. It looked like some invisible person was pushing the bones back into place, but in reality Eddie's muscles were contracting and relaxing, moving the bones slowly back into their sockets. She replaced first her fingers, then her arms, then her shoulders, and finally sat up. Manticore had taught this trick to its newer trainees as a way to escape from almost any kind of binding, from handcuffs to metal chains.

"Ow," groaned the young transgenic, rolling her neck and popping her fingers. "I'm going to regret that in the morning."

"Anything broken?" asked Max.

Eddie did a full check of her body. "Nope."

"Lucky."

"No, skilled."

Max laughed and helped her to her feet. "Let's get back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick was tapping his foot and drumming his fingers impatiently when he heard Eddie's laughter being carried on the wind. He looked up and saw her entering the parking garage with Max.

"There's your kitty cat," a transhuman Pick was playing cards with said, his voice teasing. "You really should put a collar on her in case she runs away."

Pick flipped him off and ran over to greet her. "Eddie!" he called, getting her attention.

Max stopped walking, allowing Eddie to meet her boyfriend halfway in a tight embrace. He spun her around and then proceeded to hold her like a baby.

"It's strange," Alec said, stepping out of the shadows to stand next to Max. "You'd never know what they are capable of by just looking at them. They seem like normal kids."

Max sighed. "Did you reach the Xs?"

"Yep. Had to kick some ass, but it worked out alright," he replied. "They're reluctant, but have agreed to provide their total cooperation for anything you might request of them."

She turned to face him and frowned. "You're hurt."

Alec shrugged. "Nothing serious."

Max gingerly touched one of the splinters in his face. "We're going to have to get that taken care of. Come on." She grabbed his hand and led him towards the makeshift medical station they had set up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie melted into Pick's arms. "Remind me to never let Max persuade me to do a favor for her ever again."

Pick laughed and tilted her head up. "Will do."

"I jumped from a five-story building, nearly separated my spinal cord, and dislocated my upper body."

"You what?!" cried Pick angrily. "You mean Max—"

Eddie quickly silenced him with a long, heart-felt kiss. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine," she said, laughing at the dumbfounded expression on his face. "Let's go find Axle, shall we?" She sauntered off and Pick followed, all thoughts of her injuries gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hold still."

"But it smarts."

"I don't care. Hold still."

"Ow!"

"You big baby."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are you gonna cry?"

"No."

"I think you are."

"Shut up."

Max laughed and patted Alec on the head. "I have to get these splinters out."

Alec pouted. "But there's like a bazillion of them."

"No, there's only about ten, and if we don't take them out their your face will get infected and fall off," she said pointedly as she pulled a splinter from his cheek with the tweezers. "So you need to just sit still and deal with it. Last I checked, X5s didn't whine about splinters."

"But I just _love_ annoying you," he said with a rakish grin.

Max shook her head. "Well, it's working." She pulled a particularly large splinter from above his eyebrow and winced as he visibly tensed. "Sorry."

"Oh, so _now_ you're being sympathetic," he grumbled. "What, the guilt too much for you?"

"Do you want someone else to do this? Because I—"

"No, I'll stop," Alec interrupted.

Max bit her lip nervously as she moved her hand down to his lips, which had one or two splinters. Alec suddenly became very still as her fingers gently brushed his lips. She quickly pulled out the two tiny pieces of wood and checked the rest of his face. "Only a few more," she whispered, feeling her face heat up.

Alec nodded and silently allowed her to pull the remaining three splinters from underneath his eyes.

When she was done, Max pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "This might sting a bit," she stated, pouring some of the liquid onto a cotton ball.

Alec shrank back as she touched his face. "Yeah, just a bit," he joked, trying to beak the tension.

Max quickly cleaned his wounds, then checked him over. "There. All done. You want anything for the pain?"

"I don't think we have anything like that, but they always say that a kiss will make ouchies feel better," mused Alec. He immediately clamped his jaw shut after he realized what he had just said. "I—I mean…"

Max smiled as he flushed red. She stood up. "I better go see if Mole has found anything useful… See you later." Trying unsuccessfully not to look too eager to get away from him, she hurried off.

"Yeah. See ya." Alec half-heartedly waved his hand. He sighed disgustedly. "That was lame, Alec. Good job."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max was checking around for Mole when she noticed something amiss. It seemed that the place was emptier than usual, without the constant, indistinct chatter from the many groups of transgenics that normally hung around this area.

A few young men ran past her, their faces alarmed. This heightened her suspicions and she picked up her pace. Several more men ran past.

"Mole!" shouted the X5, looking around. "Mole, where are you?"

Before she could say anything else, someone barreled into her at full-speed, knocking them both to the ground.

"What the hell?! Watch it, asshole!" she yelled angrily, sitting up. She was surprised to see Joshua sitting there, staring at her with a terrified face. "Joshua? What's the matter? What is everyone running from?"

Joshua jumped to his feet. "F-f-females! Lots of them! Must run! Joshua must go!"

Max grabbed his arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Ah-ah-ah, cat DNA. Females want to get busy with Joshua! Joshua must go!" He wrenched his arm free and took off.

Max thought about what he had said for a moment, then her eyes widened in horror. "Oh no…no, no, no, no… they're in heat…" She dragged her hand down her face, then her head snapped up as more terrified males ran past. "This is not good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack was sleeping on an old, beaten-up couch when he was awakened by someone running their hands along his arms. He opened his eyes to find Jondy standing there, smiling down at him. "Can I help you?" he asked sleepily.

In response, she launched herself onto the couch with him and tried to take off his shirt.

"Whoa! Whoa, slow down!" the male X5 shouted, jumping up. He sniffed the air as she looked up at him dreamily. "Pheromones?"

_Wha's your name,_

_'Cause I'm impressed._

_Can you treat me good?_

_I won't settle for less_

_You a hot boy_

_A rock boy_

_A fun toy_

_Tore up glock-boy_

"Mm… Zack, I forgot you were always in the best shape," Jondy whispered, reaching up and touching his chest. "You have wonderful muscles…" She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Remember when you finally got out? I was the first one you found… I've always had a crush on you, Zack."

Zack gulped. He had successfully dug himself into a hole. A big, gaping, bottomless, no-return hole. Jondy's pheromones were absolutely intoxicating and he couldn't bring himself to stop her anymore. She kissed him and all he could do was stand there, dumbfounded. Usually he stayed away from the other X5s when they were in heat, but she had caught him in a vulnerable situation and now…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick could smell something odd coming off Eddie as they walked through Terminal City, hand-in-hand. In fact, the smell seemed to be coming from everywhere. She was looking at him funny, too… sort of drunken and dazed. Her face was flushed and her palms sweaty.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Eddie had never been like this before.

"Have I ever told you how hot you are? I mean, Junky and Hank are okay, but you are absolutely _gorgeous_," she said, moving closer to him.

_Where you live?_

_Is it by yourself?_

_Can I move wit' you?_

_Do you need some help?_

_I cook boy_

_I'll give you more_

_I'm a fly girl_

"Um…" Pick stopped walking as she started running her hands up his chest. "Eddie, are you feeling okay?"

"Mm…fine, hot boy," she whispered, moving her hands from his chest to his biceps.

And I like those 

_Hot boys_

_Baby you got_

_What I want_

_See ya'll be driving_

_Lexus, Jeeps, and the Benz_

_Hot boys_

_Baby you got_

_What I want_

_See 'cause ya'll be driving_

_Jaguars and the Bentleys_

_And the Rolls-Royce_

_Playing hardballs_

_With the platinum Visa_

Pick gently pushed her away as her lips found the base of his neck. "Eddie, calm down."

"But you're soooo hot," she said, wrapping one of her legs around his. "Mmm…" She covered his mouth with hers and shoved him against the wall of the nearest building.

Pick tried to resist, but the scent that she was giving off was paralyzing and his body was rendered useless and he couldn't help but kiss her back.

_Is that your car,_

_The SKA?_

_Are you riding alone?_

_Can I be your date?_

_Come get me_

_Get me_

_Don't diss me_

_Don't trick me_

Eddie had almost succeeded in pulling Pick's shirt off when suddenly she was pulled off of him and punched in the face. Pick, dazed, could only watch as the girl that would've very soon been his mate fell to the ground, unconscious.

"And that is what you get for being a bad little kitty," Max said, flexing her hand. She slapped Pick a few times. "Wake up."

Pick could still smell Eddie's pheromones and he tried to get to her, but Max held him back. "Let me go," he protested, struggling with her.

"Don't make me knock you out, too," warned the X5. She slapped him again and he seemed to wake up.

"What's happening? Why is she like this?" he asked, shaking his head.

"She's in heat. Didn't they teach you this at Manticore?"

Pick shook his head vigorously, still staring down at the unconscious Eddie.

"Well, it's this cycle that animals go through to give off signals that they are fertile or ready to mate," explained Max. "It's uncontrollable… so you better get away from here. Males are totally unresisting to the smell of the pheromones that are given off and you'd only get yourself in trouble. Me and the other females that aren't in heat are going to go try and… restrain the ones that are, which is about half the female population here."

"How come this is happening to them all at once?"

Max shrugged. "Beats me. The universe has a sense of humor."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max, Brin, Syl, and a few other able females scoured Terminal City that night, knocking out every female who had the slightest scent of pheromones on them. Unfortunately, in some cases they were too late and the fate of several males had been sealed. Whenever they came across males they advised them to run to the parking garage on the south side of Terminal City where all the males were hiding out until it was safe to come out.

By the next morning they were exhausted, but Max was painfully aware of a new problem and had no time to rest.

She was growing flushed and felt…hot.

This realization came about at the worst of times, since the others had turned in, and she was left alone.

All alone… with several hundred males.

"Not good, not good, not good," she repeated to herself, looking for a place to lock herself inside. Unfortunately, most of the buildings lacked doors that weren't rotted or damaged. Some of them didn't even have doors.

And then… disaster struck.

"Hey, Max."

Max turned around to see Alec leaning against a wall, grinning at her. "A-Alec… you need to go. You need to go, now!"

Alec frowned. "Why?"

"I-I-I-I…" Max stuttered, quickly losing control. "You have to go."

"But I just got here," he mused, pushing himself off the wall and walking towards her.

"You don't understand! I'm in heat!"

Alec abruptly stopped walking. "Oh shit." As if on cue, he smelled the pheromones coming off her, carried by the wind. "Not good. I'll just be off."

Max approached him like a cat stalking its prey. "Mmm…Alec… run," she said, her mouth seemingly the only part of her body she had control of.

"I—uh, yeah…I should be doing that…" he mumbled, but didn't move.

I got some friends 

_Can they come too?_

_Can you hook them up_

_With some boys like you?_

_A hot boy_

_A rock boy_

_On top boy_

_And I like those_

_Hot boys_

Max continued to come towards him until she was mere inches away. She gulped and pressed her hands on his chest. His hands found her hips and they leaned close. "Alec… you need to go…" she whispered, pulling back from him as she regained control of her body. "Go!"

Alec stared at her longingly for a moment.

"Look, I said go!" she cried, louder this time.

The male X5 sighed and jogged off.

Max sat down on the curb and held her head in her hands. "Control, Maxie. Control…" Her body betrayed her, however, and she jumped up to chase him. But before she could take off, there was a soft 'pop' and she slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Been savin' that just for you, Missy. You're lucky I wasn't standing downwind or you would be in big trouble" Mole said, coming to stand above her. He loaded another dart into his tranquilizer gun. "And you said I wouldn't need these. Sheesh."

TBC…

A/N: Sooo… Loved it? Hated it?  Please share with me your opinion by clicking on the little purple box at the bottom. Thanks much! ^_^

Lyrics property of Missy Elliot from her song "Hot Boyz." This song was featured on the episode "Meow."


	4. The Bitch is Back

Disclaimer: See Part 1

A/N:

**a.** Beware for big plot twist. Oh yeah and…. I love you guys for reviewing! *cries happily*

**b.** LoL, you guys are impatient… the M/A action is coming soon…

Summary: The transgenics have accepted their surroundings and start making Terminal City into their new home. Max discovers something about herself… with the help of her favorite siblings, of course. Meanwhile, a threat that everyone thought destroyed is back… with a vengeance.

**The Siege**

By

**Brin**

"Did you look in the yellow pages under "black helicopter operations?"—Zack, Cold Comfort

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4: The Bitch is Back 

"MAX! HELP ME!"

Max didn't know what was happening. She was frozen where she stood, her body stiff and rigid like a board. It seemed as if she was in the middle of a giant movie, watching through someone else's eyes. The scene moved more slowly than normal… as if everything were playing in slow motion.

Around her were all the makings of war—fire everywhere, bodies littering the ground, thick smoke filling the air, people running and screaming, ammunition slicing through the air. A bomb exploded a little too close for comfort, sending bodies flying. Her eyes swiveled around in their sockets as she realized the identities of the bodies… transgenics. All of them, transgenics!

Joshua and Hank lay dead a few feet away, their bodies riddled with bullets. Not too far away from them Junky crawled across the ground towards the two, his entire left side burned black. Axle ran past her grasping a gun, but was shot down before he could level it to take a shot.

Men dressed in black uniforms ran through the area, finishing off Junky with a quick blow to the head. Several people in doctor's lab coats came through and gathered the bodies.

"NO! MAX!"

Max looked around for the owner of the screaming voice. She spotted Krit, Zack, Brin, and Syl being led away by the men in those strangely familiar black uniforms. Several young X8s were chased into a corner and covered with a heavy-duty net that drilled itself into the ground where the soldiers proceeded to tie them up like cattle, using electric wands to shock the Xs into compliance. She heard a desperate shouting and turned to see Pick fending off the men trying to get Eddie, who lay paralyzed on the ground. After awhile of fighting the enraged X6, they raised their guns and shot them both. Pick slumped over his beloved, their blood pooling together.

"MAX!"

Finally, Max's eyes settled upon the one yelling her name… Alec. He was being led away by three of the uniformed men, his hands handcuffed and his ankles shackled together. Blood dribbled from his temple, his busted lip, his shoulder, and the bullet hole in his side. He struggled against his bounds, shouting Max's name desperately.

"MAX! LOOK OUT!" he yelled.

One of the soldiers, fed-up with his ranting, pulled off his helmet and goggles, drawing a handgun. It was White.

Max's eyes widened in horror and she tried to run to help Alec, but her body was rendered useless and she could do nothing but watch the scene play out before her.

Alec stopped struggling and pinned her with a sorrowful gaze as the soldiers forced him to his knees and put the cold steel barrel of the gun between his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance…

White smirked. "Take the shot."

BAM!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AAH!" Max bolted upright, panting, sweating, and screaming. She dragged her hand down her face and looked around to find herself in an over-stuffed bed covered with a thick woolen blanket, not in a war zone. A fire crackled in the brick fireplace that stood a few feet away, lighting the room with a homey sort of glow instead of the flaming buildings from before. She sat up and looked around through blurry eyes. "It was a dream… all a dream… oh shit…" she panted, lying back down and throwing an arm over her eyes.

The door squeaked open, causing Max to jump in surprise and sit up straight. She relaxed, however, when the familiar form of Alec slipped in. He quietly closed the door behind him and turned around. A smile broke over his face as he realized she was finally awake. "Welcome back to planet earth, sleepyhead."

"Where… where are we?" asked Max, gulping down the lump in her throat.

Alec moved closer to her. "Well, you'd be awfully surprised what Ordinaries leave behind when they're running for their lives from a toxic spill. We are inside what used to be an old apartment building."

"I'm impressed," Max said, whistling appreciatively. "How'd you find this place? And how did I get here?"

"Mole decided to take matters into his own hands and shot you with enough tranquilizer to knock you out for a day… which is enough to take down a male hippopotamus, but that's just details." He sat next to her, grinning. "I came back and found you lying in the middle of the street, curled up like a kitten. Then I brought you inside the nearest building—this one—and who would've guessed? A fireplace full of wood, a feather bed with woolen covers, and a rocking chair. Nice, ain't it?"

Max laughed and pinned him with a suspicious stare. "Are you lying to me?"

Alec chuckled. "Yes."

"Then what's the truth?"

"The truth is that I carried you from one end of Terminal City to the other checking all the buildings until I found the only one that would suit you—this one," he said quietly. He then began to twiddle his thumbs, waiting for her reaction.

Max's jaw moved up and down soundlessly for a minute, then she finally managed: "I-I-I… I wasn't expecting that." She licked her lips nervously. "Thank you."

Alec let out the breath that he had unconsciously been holding and smiled. "You're welcome." He pulled a little white package from his pocket and tossed it to her. "Got something for ya."

Max caught the package and opened it. "You are an angel! How did you get this?" she asked, laughing as she pulled a perfect Hostess cupcake from the bag.

"I had to gamble away some rations, but I know you like 'em so…," he replied with a shrug, looking like a bashful schoolboy.

"Alec… I'm going to have to pay you back for this. Why're you being so nice all of a sudden?" she asked, taking a big, over-dramatic bite of her cupcake.

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"I dunno… it's just… you've been different lately," she said with a shrug. "I mean, since I first met you you've been this sort of wild child… but you've toned down. A lot. I haven't seen you go after a girl in days. Why the change?"

Alec tapped his foot nervously. "Well, I just… I just thought that, you know, in light of the situation it wouldn't be proper to run around hitting on every X in the city."

"Really?" Max narrowed her eyes at him incredulously. "And what situation would that be?"

"You want the truth?"

"That would be nice."

"The straight truth?"

"Spill it."

Alec sat on the edge of the bed. Max scooted over and he pulled both legs onto the feathery bed, resting his upper body against the headboard. "Well… I seem to have fallen for this girl… and I have to be cautious because this girl seems to already have a love in her life."

Max felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "You've fallen in love?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Tell me about this girl."

He smiled. "She's incredible. And I haven't even had sex with her." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he stared into the fire. "I mean, she's not exactly orthodox in her ways, but she has this way with people… When she says 'jump,' they jump and they like it. And when you look into her eyes, it's like everything wrong in the world—the Pulse, Manticore, anything—just sort of fades away into the distance like a memory." Slowly, he turned his head and checked her face for any emotion, but she showed none so he continued, "Once I was a total jerk-off, not a care in the world. I didn't care if I walked outside and got shot or if I pissed off all of America. Then she started caring. For me. I wasn't used to that. It caught me off-guard and after awhile I found I liked it. She's the kind of girl that makes you think the world isn't such a bad place anymore. You know like in fairytales where all the good people are saved by the big, strong hero, or in this case, heroine? Well, she's the kind of girl who's not going to stand there and wait for someone to save her. She gets things done. What's not to love?"

Max gulped down the humongous lump in her throat. "And… and what's her name?"

"Now if told you that, I would have to kill her," he said, winking as he regained his composure. "The truth is, Max, that I can't get enough of seeing her. Smelling her. I can only hope she feels remotely the same way."

Max half-smiled. "I bet she does." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Alec, you are a great guy under that bad boy image. This girl of yours sounds really special. I could bet my life on the fact that she loves you back. From the way you talk about her… I don't see how she could _not_ love you."

Alec grinned and put his arm around her shoulder. "Believe me Max, I see a lot of ways she could not love me." He leaned closer to her. "So tell me about your current love life."

Max squirmed a bit; she could feel his breath tickling her neck and was surprisingly pleased by the feeling. "Well… I'm not quite sure at the moment. See, I'm in a very compromising position." She wriggled some more. He was so close his lips almost touched her neck. "Because I'm not quite sure where I am in my life. I just got over one especially heartbreaking relationship and…" Blood rushing to her face, she scooted away from him. "And although I have strong feelings for this one guy, I'm not quite sure I can admit love yet. It's too dangerous."

"Is that so?" Alec's face dropped. "Well, sounds like one lucky guy if you have 'strong feelings' for him. He gets my congrats."

"But you know… even I can't say it out loud… It doesn't mean I don't feel it," she whispered, turning her head to face him. She stared at his lips, just a hairsbreadth's away.

Alec leaned forward, his eyes closing, and—

KNOCK-KNOCK.

"Open up. I know you're in there," said a voice from outside the door.

Max and Alec turned away from each other, face flushed.

"I could _so_ blast this door open," claimed another voice. "All I need is a paperclip, some wire, and…"

"Jondy, shut up."

The door opened and Syl and Jondy came in, mischievous looks on their faces. "Hmm… looks like we walked in something important, Syl… Feel guilty?" Jondy asked, picking up the steel poker and adjusting the wood in the fire.

Syl sat down in the rocking chair. "Not really."

Max glared at them. "You guys have wicked timing."

"We know. We good," replied Jondy. She pulled a marshmallow from her pocket, stuck it on the end of the poker, and held it over the fire.

"That's nasty," commented Max. "That poker is dirty."

"So is am I, now let's go." Jondy blew out the flaming marshmallow and popped it in her mouth. "You're needed down at the male hideout."

Max raised her eyebrow. "You know, I never saw you the other night when everyone went into heat. Did you by any chance…"

Jondy choked on her marshmallow.

"I, uh, really don't think I'm needed here. I'm going to go see if anyone else needs my presence," declared Alec, hurrying to the door.

Max opened her mouth to call after him, but thought better of it and crossed her arms indignantly instead as she heard the front door close. "You guys are mean."

Jondy tossed a marshmallow to Syl and handed another to Max. "Yeah, you're not the first one to say that." She stuck another white puffball on the end of the poker. "Now spill it. What are you doing here, alone, in a bed, with some guy?"

"It's not like that. We're not like that," Max growled.

"Then why are you so mad?" continued Jondy, sitting down and making herself comfy.

"I thought we had to go down to male central," commented Max irritably.

"Yeah, we do, but people are used to me being late. Now answer my question."

"Nothing happened. He just brought me in here because I was hit with a tranquilizer dart and he decided to be nice. We're just friends." Max dragged her hand down her face, then grinned at her sister evilly. "You never answered _my_ question, Jondy," she said in a matter-of-factly tone. "How did you… amuse yourself during your heat?"

Jondy paled a bit, but lost none of her sarcasm. "Ladies don't kiss and tell."

"You're not a lady and kissing's not _all_ you did," Syl piped in, winking at Max.

Max raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do tell."

Jondy looked in-between the two, then threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Okay, okay… I… I sort of…" She rocked back and forth nervously. "I kinda slept with… um, Zack."

Max's jaw dropped. "You slept with… _Zack?!"_

Jondy nodded then hung her head. "He was the only guy I could find who wasn't an anomaly…"

"You mean he was the only guy on your mind," commented Syl.

"Uh huh… and how long exactly have you had the hots for our strict CO?" asked Max, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning back against the headboard.

Jondy sighed. "Does it really matter?"

"Tell."

"Okay… I guess since about… forever."

Syl laughed and dodged a flying marshmallow. "You should've seen her when we went to pick Zack up from the farm. She was hanging all over him and…" She mockingly shivered. "It was just sick."

"Yeah, well, you and Krit and your 'I love you, no I love you more' crap was about to drive me insane," countered Jondy.

Syl smirked. "He's my husband."

"Yeah, well, Zack and I are working things out."

"Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Before you argue about this, why doesn't someone explain to me what exactly happened on the outside world while I dealt with post-Pulse Seattle," Max said, making a 'time out' sign with her hands.

Jondy sat down on the end of the bed. "Well, my story can't be much different than yours is. I got adopted into a really nice family in Oregon. They gave me an education, kept clothing on my back… for the four years I spent with them, that is. When I turned fifteen I left and I have been on the run ever since, always checking over my shoulder. I got a friend of mine to remove the barcode on my neck ever few weeks or so—very painful, I don't recommend it—so it's been better… But Zack was always coming around warning me about how I was never safe and I had to keep moving." Her eyes twinkled sadly in the firelight. "When I turned eighteen I started traveling with Zack, learning how to be CO, you know, just in case. Then, he disappeared."

"That's where my story picks up," interrupted Syl. With some effort, she stood up and moved over to the bed, her hand on the slope of her belly. "Of course, you know what happened back at Manticore when we blew the DNA lab up. After that, we found Jondy and told her what happened, then dropped her off in Canada to stay with some X5s awhile just in case. We found out through a few 'reliable sources' later on that you were alive again and Krit and I almost came to visit you, but we ran into Brin and had some problems. She was… five months pregnant, I think, and getting chased by some psycho tabloid who had seen her barcode only God knows how."

There was a long pause and when she didn't continue, Max got impatient. "Go on."

"Patience, young grasshopper," replied Syl with a mischievous grin. "I'm getting there. Anyway, we helped her out of that tight spot and she was ready to run away from us, but we knocked some sense into her somehow. Her mind slipped away from Manticore again. We knew if we all had turned rebellious once, we could do it again.

"Krit and I got married a few months ago and now, in true-blue domestic Ordinary fashion, we're now going to have a baby. Of course, that wouldn't stop me from running to help you once we heard about the hostage situation and saw your face all over the papers." She paused. "What about you, Max? What have you been up to besides driving tabloids wild and starting government conspiracies?"

Max shrugged. "Got shot, almost killed Logan a few times, was very temped to knock the living crap out of Alec more than once, saved a few rabid transgenics, rescued a bunch of kids, burned down Manticore, uncovered a thousand-year-old selective breeding cult, found out I could be the savior of the human race… you know, the usual."

Jondy laughed and gave her sister a high-five. "Wow. Been busy, huh?"

"You know it. It's not like a revved up, hot female such as myself could sit still for very long, right?" declared the youngest X5 with a smirk.

"Don't get cocky on us now," Syl said in a mockingly parental voice.

Max's smirk widened. "When have I ever _not _been cocky? Preacher Max is gone, ladies… the bitch is back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec was busying himself helping a psy-ops transgenic build a solar-powered generator when his attention was caught by the familiar-looking young man staring at him from where he sat with a few other male Xs playing poker. After trying to ignore the X's gaze for a few minutes, Alec, irritated a little more than he'd like, gave up. He excused himself from the project and walked over to them, putting on his game face.

"Is there a reason you keep looking at me like that? Because last time I checked, I didn't have anything stuck on my ass so there's no reason for you to be staring at it," Alec said, coming to a halt a few feet away.

There was loud guffawing and a chorus of cheers from the other male Xs. The one who had been staring stood up, eye-to-eye with Alec, but with a slightly more muscular build.

"Hey, I remember you," declared Alec, stroking his chin. "You're the dude to tried to dislocate my head from the rest of my body."

"Uh huh… and I remember you, Alec. You're the guy who got Max into trouble with the steelheads."

"Zack, right?"

Zack nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "That'd be me." He looked Alec up and down, then sat down again. "You don't look as threatening as some say."

Alec's ears perked up. "Hm? You mean you've heard of me?"

"Yeah, take a seat," said another X with a startling resemblance to Max. "The name's Krit, Krit Guevara."

"So you're…"

"Max's brother? Yeah, and a lot more closely than this muscle-head," mused Krit, patting Zack on the shoulder. "So tell me. What's, uh, what's going on between you and our little sister?"

Alec gulped and bit his lip. This was like taking a lie detector test; surrounded by eight fully-trained, fully-grown Xs with suspicious big brother dispositions. "Nothing… right now."

Zack glanced at Krit, who shrugged. "Let's move this someplace else," suggested Krit, standing up. "After all, if things continue like the rumors have been saying… you could be our brother-in-law in a year's time."

Alec's eyes widened. _Oh shit…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max walked arm-in-arm with Jondy and Syl as they headed back to 'headquarters.' "Tell me what happened with Zack."

Syl let out a puff of air, blowing a lock of blonde hair from her face. "Krit and I had spotted him while we were passing through the area driving this rickety old pick-up full of farm equipment. After awhile we started approaching him when he stopped to get his breakfast at the local café. It was quickly made clear that he had no memories of us or Manticore. We made friends and after two weeks of just talking to him about anything besides Manticore, he said, out of the blue, 'I remember you.' And everything spilled out from there."

Max processed this information as they walked at a slow pace. "I guess I've missed more than I thought."

Jondy slung her arm over Max's shoulders, running her other hand through her cropped brown hair. "Maxie, you have been going through a lot right here in Seattle." She kissed her on the head. "Tell me about this Logan guy Syl was complaining about."

"There's not much left to say. I thought we were meant to be… that we were perfect for each other… and then, like that," she snapped her fingers, "everything spiraled out of control. Suddenly we were fighting. The virus seemed like the wall that couldn't be scaled… even by me." She smiled sadly. "But I'm okay now. We're done and over and I'm free of the opposite sex once again. Totally free and _totally_ single."

Jondy raised an eyebrow, her face incredulous. "Really?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec sat down on one side of a table. Zack sat across from him and Krit remained standing. Zack placed a single, faded card in front of Alec. "Turn it over."

Licking his lips nervously, Alec flipped the card face-up. It was a Queen of Hearts.

"See that? That is what Max is. The Queen of Hearts; many hearts at that. You've got to realize that Max is a work-in-progress, just like the rest of us. She acts almighty and all-knowing, but we all know it's just a façade," Zack explained, his tone surprisingly soft.

"Rumor is that she's spiraling down; losing hope. If you break her heart Alec, she will be too far gone for our aid. We don't want to see that happen to our little sister," added Krit.

"What makes you guys think Max and I are even gonna go past being friends?" asked Alec, his voice breaking as he said it.

Zack and Krit exchanged glances.

"Look at me," said Zack sternly. "I saw you two talking together and watched while she helped you with the splinters in your face. I know the looks you exchanged. See… I was once in love with Max. I always will be, but I realize now that it was more of an obsession than the romantic passion that you two have. You've got a helluva girl making goo-goo eyes at you, Alec."

"So you guys dragged me over here just to lecture me on my love life? I don't need this," growled Alec, standing up.

Krit placed a firm hand on Alec's shoulder and pushed him back down. "No, we didn't bring you over here to lecture you. We brought you over here to make sure you know what you're getting into. Max has about twenty people—the loyal subjects of the Queen of Hearts—who love her enough to kill _you _if you do anything to her. Is that clear?"

Alec nodded.

"Good boy," Krit patted him on the shoulder a little more roughly than called for.

"You guys, I'm not going to hurt Max. Why do you think I would?" asked Alec accusingly.

"Look me in the eye," instructed Zack. When he was sure that Alec was looking straight into his eyes, he said slowly and clearly, "Do you love Max?"

Alec gulped. "Yes."

Krit smiled. "Then what are you sitting around here for?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I mean, it's not like I'm totally obsessed with him or anything. It's just that he's cute and I'm attracted to him. That's it. It's just an itch… when I scratch it, it'll go away."

Jondy and Syl exchanged knowing glances.

"Uh huh, riiight," mumbled Syl.

Max stopped walking, allowing them to continue on. "But I'm serious."

"Just keep telling yourself that," Jondy called over her shoulder.

They arrived at the main part of Terminal City and entered the parking garage that seemed to be the center of action now. Max was thinking about naming it City Hall, but the idea was way too humorous…

"We should call this building Tolerance Hall, since all kinds of transgenics stay here and tolerance is our number one goal, right?" suggested Jondy, interrupting Max's thoughts.

Max grinned. "That's good. I'll make sure to get the word around." She looked at the broken parking garage and shook her head. "Tolerance Hall. This place definitely doesn't look like it deserves a name. We should fix it up."

"It's on our to-do list," said Axle as he came out of the building. "Come on, we have arranged a meeting with the so-called 'leaders' of the city and they're waiting for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max sat down in the only empty seat at the round table that seated three imposing-looking transgenics.

One of them, an anomaly with reddish skin and a lizard-like face, stood. "I suppose one of us should get things going." His first eyelids blinked, followed by his second. "We were called here to discuss a course of action. A tally was made and there are about 850 transgenics here in Terminal City, with approximately 105 yet to be born."

"Yes, and most of them are from the anomaly side!" huffed an X.

"Hey, cut it out," growled Max.

The lizard anomaly sighed and continued, "So, any ideas? We can't just sit here and wait for them to snap and storm the place."

"Well, they wouldn't have discovered us if it hadn't been for you damn anomalies running around in broad daylight!" said the same X.

Max glared at him. "What the hell is up your butt, asshole?"

"The name's Zane and I can be mad if I want to so don't lecture me."

Max's eyes widened. "Zane?"

"That's me. X5-205. Who are you?"

"The name's Max, X5-452."

Zane took a moment to process this information, then his jaw dropped and he smacked a hand to his forehead. "Max? _You_ are Max?"

"Yes, that'd be about right," she replied, regaining her composure. "Didn't know one of my brothers would turn out to be such an ass."

"Look, I am just worried about what's gonna happen," defended Zane with a sigh.

"Well, we'd appreciate it if you'd be more cooperative, Zane," growled Max. "What happened to your face?"

"Some X named Alec came in and we had a little squabble."

Max smiled. "Oh. Too bad."

"Can we continue, people?" rumbled another anomaly in a particularly deep voice, this one with a long snout and rounded ears like a bear.

"Right," replied Max, sitting back in her chair.

The lizard-anomaly continued, "We have two choices: sit and wait to see what happens or launch our own attack. Given our current status and supplies, does anyone think that we would be able to properly defend ourselves if they tried to enter?"

"I don't think we could for very long," said Zane, scratching his scruffy chin. "We have enough ammo and guns for almost every transgenic here, but a lot of them are kids, babies, or pregnant."

"He's right," piped in Bear. "If they bring in a force bigger than a thousand, we could be in deep shit."

"But the thing is," interrupted Max, "they don't know how many people we have, how many supplies we have, or what we are all capable of if we work together. The truth is that they are terrified of us. And we have got to use that to our advantage."

"What are you saying?" asked the lizard.

Max smirked. "We need to convince them that we have a force of about two-thousand armed and ready transgenics, but we won't make any threatening moves towards them or they could attack. They also need to believe that we are all stocked-up on food and all that good stuff. Part of their strategy is to wait until we run out of food and eat each other up or something."

The other three transgenics chuckled.

"In fact, now that I think about it…" She chewed on her lip. "We should execute this plan at once. You—" she pointed to the lizard, "—what's your name?"

"Styx."

"Okay, Styx. And what's your name?" she pointed at the bear-anomaly.

"The name's Baba."

Max held in a chuckle and covered her mouth to hide her smile. Baba the bear.

"Yeah, yeah…" mumbled Baba resentfully. "Go ahead and say it."

Max shook her head. "No, no. I wasn't gonna say anything." She smiled at him. "Anyway, you, Styx, and Zane need to go and inform your transgenics of our plan. We want ideas from everyone. And while we're at it…" She scratched her chin. "To the best of your capability, I want you to document every kind of transgenic you have, their specialties, their designations, and their ranks in their units, okay?"

The three nodded.

"Good. I think we're well on our way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the meeting was adjourned, Max returned to the apartment that she was thinking about making her permanent residence. She jumped inside the building just before the skies opened up and it began to pour down Seattle rain. The thought of the feathery-soft bed and cozy fire made her surprisingly relaxed and carefree. She was willing to risk getting soaked to the bone just to get back there.

The rest of the place wasn't too bad either. It was on the fifth floor of the building, which was second from the top, and the fireplace extended up through the sixth floor and out the roof. A shredded leather couch sat in the living room opposite a busted television. The kitchen was right next to the living room, separated by a dirty granite counter with a rusted sink. Above the counter were some semi-rotted cabinets holding a few cobweb-covered porcelain plates and bowls.

The entryway had tiles that were probably once white, but were now covered in a layer of grime and dirt that gave them a beige, almost brown, color. The bathroom had the same tiles, a deteriorating shower curtain hanging across a cracked marble shower, a destroyed toilet, and a rusted marble sink.

Max looked around the place a bit to make sure the rain wouldn't flood her before returning to the bedroom and sinking into the over-stuffed bed. She took a deep, calming breath and found herself inhaling the scent of… Alec. The X5 bolted upright and pulled back the covers to find Alec's leather jacket. She was about to toss it over her shoulder to deal with it later, but something seemed to hold her arm still. After a few moments, against her better judgment, she slipped the jacket onto her shoulders and inhaled his scent again. It smelled of his cheap cologne and his shampoo; of grime and Seattle smog; and, surprisingly, of chocolate.

She had been sitting there, just enjoying the feel of his jacket on her body and the smell of him inside her head, when someone knocked on the door, causing her to jump.

"Coming!" Max called, running to the front door and opening it. A gasp escaped her lips before she could control it. "Alec?"

He stood there, rivers of rainwater falling off his body, panting for air. His white t-shirt was plastered to his body and his jeans were heavy with water. There was a strangely terrified look on his face, yet at the same time he looked absolutely pitiful, blinking rapidly to prevent the water from falling into his eyes.

"Oh gosh, Alec, come in," she said, backing away from the door so he could enter. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he stood there staring at her, wearing _his_ leather jacket. His heart leapt into his throat excitedly.

Max stared back, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she saw the emotion practically pooling in his eyes. "Alec…"

Alec stopped her by placing a hand on either side of her face and pulling her into a very heated, very passionate kiss.

Stunned, Max went slack and he had to put his arms around her waist to keep her from falling over, but they never broke the kiss. Minutes ticked by and, when both of them realized the reactions of their bodies to the kiss, they separated. Max fell against the wall behind her and Alec against the opposite.

"Max… I was looking for you everywhere," Alec panted. "I've got to tell you something." He gulped. "Max, I love you."

Max's eyes widened and she was struck speechless for a moment. A _brief_ moment. Then, a soft smile upon her face, she stepped forward and kissed him again. His hands raised and stroked her arms until she wrapped them around his neck. Her hips swayed and she pressed herself into his body as his hands moved to hold her firmly in place. Before things went any further, she pulled back and searched his eyes. "I love you, too."

Alec smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was hoping you'd say that." He put on an innocent face and slipped his jacket from her shoulders, leaving her in the tank top she had been wearing under her cat suit earlier. "Hmm…" Still sporting a face that could get him away with murder, Alec pushed the straps of her tank top down. He then dipped his head and placed feathery-soft kisses on her exposed skin, causing her to shudder. "You like that, huh?"

"No one's every given me goose bumps before," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair. She then shrieked in surprise as Alec tossed her over his shoulder and ran into the bedroom, heaving her onto the bed and flopping down next to her.

Alec stroked her face as she snuggled up next to him. "So… now that we have a room… do you think…" He rolled on top of her, resting most of his body weight on his elbows, which were on either side of Max's shoulders.

"Mmm… I'm trying to think but I can barely breathe," Max whispered. She lifted her head and kissed him.

"You know what's good about this place?" panted Alec as they came up for a breath of air.

"What?"

"No one can hear you scream."

Max laughed and shoved Alec off of her, then rolled on top of him. "Now where were we…?" She pulled his slick t-shirt from his back and ran her hands down his chest.

"Right about…" Alec slipped her tank top up and over her head. "Here…" They kissed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The police barricades were momentarily cleared to allow three armored trucks to get close to the Terminal City perimeter. The officer in charge, Captain Trey Ramos, approached the vehicles as the doors opened and fifteen people exited. One of them, a man in his early-thirties, moved forward to meet him.

"Captain Ramos," said the man, shaking Ramos' hand.

"Colonel Briggs, nice of you to join us," Ramos responded. He peeked over Briggs' shoulder at the fourteen soldiers standing straight and rigid, their guns shouldered. "I see you've brought only the necessities."

Briggs smirked. "My kids can handle this until more are ready, Captain. They're just as good as any of the kids in there; probably even better."

"Just so long as they don't cause more trouble than they're worth."

"Oh, they're worth a lot, Captain. Now, if you'll excuse us… we've had a long trip and we'll freshen up in the trailer over there." Briggs signaled to the soldiers and they followed him in two straight lines of seven over to the trailer where the officers could freshen up after a long watch.

Briggs' cell phone rang and he picked it up. "Speak."

_"Are you in?"_

"Yeah. We'll have this mess taken care of in no time."

"We're counting on you, Briggs. The public thinks no one is taking responsibility for the creation of these wayward transgenics."

Briggs chuckled. "Well, they'll soon find that we always clean up our mistakes. Manticore never does a job halfway. Briggs, out."

TBC…

*ominous music*


	5. Heaven Shattered

Disclaimer: See Part 1

A/N: Pleeeease visit my new web page for The Siege at: http://brin734.tripod.com/terminal_city/ I will love you forever!

Summary: Just as Max and Alec begin to believe that the siege will soon wear itself out, the once-dormant threat of Manticore makes itself known in the form of an ambush with dire consequences. The casualties hit dangerously close to home, and Max realizes that it's up to her to stop the potential genocide situation quickly approaching.

The Siege 

by

Brin

"You make a decision and you take charge of your life. You don't need a higher power to help you. You don't need a sponsor. What you need is a strength of mind, willpower, and character." –Lydecker

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5: Heaven Shattered 

Rain dribbled down the cracked window that was outlined with fraying off-white curtains. The sky was dark and the city quiet as the blanket of night settled in until the sun rose once again. It was surprisingly silent in the middle of Terminal City and it seemed that all the troubles of the outside world were beginning to fade… for the moment, at least.

Max lay underneath the window with off-white curtains, staring at the sleeping form next to her. She pulled the soft woolen covers tighter around her and snuggled closer to him, his light breaths tickling her neck. Alec looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He slept with one hand tucked underneath his head, the other resting lazily in the middle of his bare chest. His face was content and relaxed with a smile pulling at his lips. It seemed like he didn't have a care in the world…

Thunder rumbled and Max glanced outside the dark window at the seemingly quiet Terminal City. She picked up Alec's watch. 9:00 P.M. Hadn't Syl asked her to come to some kind of special party at 9:30 earlier? She sat up and quietly scooted towards the end of the bed, but a hand reached up, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back into place.

"I don't think so," mumbled Alec sleepily, rolling over so that she was pinned underneath him. He wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

Max smiled up at him and gave him a little kiss on the nose. "Syl said that there was a party down at Tolerance Hall. I thought it would be nice to go and see what they have planned. I mean, they don't exactly have the best resources in the world…"

Alec brushed her lips with his. "Hmm… party… stay here… party… stay here…" He sighed and rolled off of her. "Well, I can tell you that staying here definitely wins the popular vote, but I see that you want to hang out with your siblings… which are totally scary, by the way."

Max watched as he stood up and searched for his clothes. "How are they scary?"

"Well, I was busily minding my own business when I was aware of transgenic eyes watching me," he explained, picking up his jacket and soggy shirt. "Where did you throw my boxers?"

"Umm…" Max bit her lip and looked around. "Aha!" She crawled to the edge of the bed and pulled his boxers out from underneath.

"How did those get under there? Wait… don't answer that." Alec put them on and flinched. "Cold boxers. Wet boxers. I need to get a change of clothes."

Max laughed and started searching for her own clothes. "You have enough time to stop by the clothes storage and get a change…" She sniffed. "I need a shower."

Alec shrugged and put on his shirt. "Well, anyway, your brothers were watching me and when I went over to see what their problem was, they went all psycho on me. I felt like I was in some pre-Pulse mafia movie or something." He handed Max her pants. "It was freaky. Do they treat all your boyfriends like that?"

Max kissed him. "No. They drove Andy to insanity, convinced Eric he was a skitzo, and tried to kill Logan."

"Oh right. I forgot," Alec replied with a laugh as she slipped on her shirt. "So… I'm going to stop by the clothes storage and you are going to go take a shower… right?"

"Right."

"Where do you want to meet? I mean… it wouldn't do for us to be searching for each other the entire night…"

Max smiled. "Tell you what. Since Joshua is like eight feet tall, we'll just find Joshua, okay?"

Alec winked and pulled her close to him, "Whatever you say." He kissed her deeply, then released his hold on her waist and backed up towards the door, opening it and then holding it open for max. "If we don't go now we'll never get out of here."

"I agree," Max said as she hurried out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max put her long hair up into a ponytail as she exited Terminal City's shower house. She silently thanked the brilliant transgenics who came up with the idea of collecting rainwater, filtering it, and using it for _showers_. Of course, she would've preferred a warm bath, but a girl can't have everything.

The night air was crisp and cold, making Max wish she still had Alec's leather jacket to keep herself warm. She rubbed her arms as she walked towards Tolerance Hall.

"Hey! Max!"

Max stopped walking and turned around to see Eddie and Pick coming down the street towards her. "Hey, guys. Where're you headed?"

"The party," replied Eddie, slowing to a halt and jumping off her skateboard, Pick following. "You too?"

"Of course." She looked the young anomaly up and down. "Where did you get those clothes? And those skateboards?"

Eddie was wearing not-so-tight black pants, a white tank top proudly stating GIRLS KICK ASS, a silver bracelet, and black sneakers.

Pick was wearing jeans and a black shirt with a white skull and crossbones across the front. A chain hung from his pocket and his once black, flat-soled shoes were faded and gray.

 "We were helping Mole and Dix look around for 'items of use' and we found an apartment that still had all its furniture and clothes left inside," answered Eddie with a shrug. "Then we found two skateboards in the attic and they have proved to be a lot more fun than walking everywhere."

Max looked them over a few times and whistled appreciatively. "It's a good look for the both of you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie did a crooked grind across a railing and a 360-degree spin as she jumped back onto the ground, coming to a slow halt in front of Tolerance Hall.

"Show-off," growled Pick as he caught up with her.

The young anomaly stuck her tongue out at him and picked up her board. "Where's Max?"

Pick half-heartedly jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Back there somewhere."

"On the contrary!" Max called.

The two teens looked up. Max was on the second floor of Tolerance Hall looking down at them with a smirk.

"Where've you been? I was beginning to think you'd never show!" the X5 continued with a laugh. She jumped down to the ground. "Where did you two learn to skateboard, anyway?"

"I took a Common Teen Pass Times class for one of my missions," replied Pick. He glared at Eddie. "She's just a fast learner."

Eddie smirked. "Yes, well, you're just jealous." And with a flip of her tail, she went inside.

Max laughed at the expression on Pick's face. She patted him on the shoulder as she followed Eddie. "Get used to it, buddy. She's a cat. She's gonna be sassy for forever and a day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile… Outside the Perimeter 

Briggs walked up and down his row of fourteen transgenics, inspecting them with carefully trained eyes.

"I need you to think long and hard about this," he said. "Whomever I send into enemy grounds may not return. In fact, I have a high belief that they will not return."

"Sir! Permission to speak, Sir!" said one of them.

"875, permission to speak granted," said Briggs, stopping in front of the addressed teenager.

"Sir! I believe I can take the transgenics, Sir!" declared 875. "I will even sacrifice myself, Sir!"

Briggs nodded. "Alright. Get yourself wired with a mic and earpiece. You're going in."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie and Pick were quickly swept away from Max's side and over to Axle, Hank, and Junky as soon as they got inside.

Max took the sight before her, impressed. What someone had done was hang curtains and blankets around a perimeter, creating a makeshift room. They had set up about long five tables against one of the 'walls' to give the effect of a bar, and there were several other round tables set in random places. Music blared from unseen speakers (she made a mental note to check that out later) and hundreds of transgenics stood around with, of all things, drinks in their hands (she also needed to check that out).

"Hey! Max! Max! Little fella!" called Joshua from the bar.

"What's up, Big Fella?" replied Max as she approached him.

"Joshua wanted to introduce Max to new friend. New friend named, named uh… Pandora," proclaimed the dog-anomaly proudly. He waved his hand towards another doggish anomaly, this one distinctly female. "Pandora is special—first."

"I thought you were first, Josh," Max said with a laugh as she shook hands with Pandora.

"Yeah, but, but Pandora first _female_," declared Joshua proudly.

Max chuckled and kissed him on the forehead. "Glad you've found a friend, Big Fella! Have you seen Alec around?"

Joshua nodded. "Uh huh. Medium Fella said… 'Give Max message' and, uh, 'knock yourself out.'"

"What was the message?"

"Umm… eh…" Joshua scratched his head a moment, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "This—this Alec's message."

Max accepted the crumpled letter and rose. "Thanks, Josh." She moved a few seats down for a little privacy and opened the letter.

_Hey Maxie,_

_Tell ya what: If you can find me within this group of several hundred transgenics I'll give you a present and a kiss. If not… well then I'll still give you the present and kiss… but I'll be in the doghouse either way for making you come look for me, won't I?_

_Love always,_

_Alec_

Max closed the letter and shook her head amusedly. "Oh yeah, you're in the doghouse." She headed off to find him when she bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Holy shit!" cried Max, jumping back. Standing there in front of her was a fully-grown leopard. Not an anomaly, no! A leopard! A regular old, nearly-extinct leopard! "What the hell?"

"Cut it the language lady," replied the big cat in a scratchy voice. "What? You never seen a leopard before?"

"No… not a… talking one…"

The leopard laughed and stood up on its back legs, looking  Max up and down. "I know you! You're 452, that hot X everyone's been talking about." He held out his paw. "The name's Leo. Leo the leopard. Laugh all you want."

Max couldn't help but chuckle as she shook his paw. "What… what are you, exactly?"

Leo got back on all fours and sat down. "Well, I was designed to the companion of some prime minister in South America and report back to Manticore about the information I gathered. But I never got sent out, so I guess you could call me Manticore's big, universal joke." He licked his paw and slicked back his fur. "Handsome, don't you think?"

"Yeah, really handsome," Max replied with a laugh. "It was very nice to meet you, Leo the leopard, but I must be off to find my wayward boyfriend."

"Hmm… you mean Alec?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Know him?! He's my idol, lady!" exclaimed Leo, suddenly growing excited.

"Your… idol?" Max raised an eyebrow. "Alec?"

"The guy moves like an antelope with a lion on his tail! Fights like a water buffalo surrounded by hyenas!" He laughed sheepishly. "He never failed a mission—with the minor exception of that Berrisford case—and never lost a fight back at Manticore," said the leopard, making a face that Max assumed was a smile. He stood up again. "It's sad that he doesn't box anymore. The guy was said to be Manticore's finest."

"Manticore's finest? But I kicked his ass," declared Max, crossing her arms over her chest. "And the Familiars totally kicked him around."

Leo licked his whiskers. "I heard the story of what happened from Gem. She said he was shot. Could you very well if you were shot?"

"Well…no…"

"I rest my case. And, anyway, the guy wouldn't dare use his full power on _anyone._ It's really scary. He gets into this fighting mood when he uses his full strength and goes totally AWOL. One time he killed a guy because the trainers couldn't pull him off in time to stop him. It's a treat to watch him fight with all he's got, though…" And with that, he got back on all fours and lumbered off.

Max furrowed her brows in thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

875 cleared the perimeter fence on a dark, quiet side of Terminal City with ease, landing with nothing more than a soft tap. He sniffed the air a few times and looked around for any indication of life. Finding none, he ducked low and crept deep into enemy territory, his automatic held ready…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't long after her run-in with Leo that Max ran into her partying lover, who was standing next to a stereo smiling.

"Hello, Maxie," he said softly, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You found me."

Max, pushing Leo's words to the back of her mind, smirked and put her hands on her hips. "What's up with this scavenger hunt you've sent me on?"

Alec bit his lip and shrugged. "Josh's little friend was scaring me… and besides, the guy needs a little time alone once in awhile." He slung an arm around her shoulders. "I had an interesting little chat with some other Xs."

"Did you now?"

"Yep. I found out a few interesting things…"

"Like what?"

"For instance," he began, "the wine and other alcoholic beverages provided here at this lovely little party were discovered buried under a three-story building. Dix and Leg contacted Mole about the find who contacted some psy-ops who contacted a few X7s who contacted a menagerie of X5s who planned this entire thing. They call it a 'social get-together.' And besides, we have more than enough water. Why not let people enjoy themselves?"

Max laughed. "Really? Have you been _gossiping_, Alec?"

"The most sacred sport known to woman-kind?! I think not," Alec replied, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"You really are a smart-Alec, huh?"

"Always."

Max kissed him briefly on the lips and smiled. "Good. Just remember… It could've been Dick."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I have infiltrated the main sentry lines," 875 whispered into his mic. "This is very disappointing. Their sentries are armed with handguns and no armor. Their patterns were not varied and easy to counter. I expected more."

_"Keep your head in the game, 875," _Briggs' voice said through 875's earpiece._ "The number one rule is not to underestimate them. A group of several hundred transgenics are not to be taken lightly. Watch your back."_

"Yes, Sir!" replied 875. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes as he neared the main building of Terminal City—a crumbling old parking garage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So tell me about the music. How can we afford this much power?" Max asked.

Alec pulled her to a stop and wrapped her up in his arms. "Well, one of the psy-ops kids developed a solar-power collector and solar-powered generator. So far we've collected enough power to light up the entire city for a day. How do you like them apples?"

Max laughed and rested her head on his chest as they began to sway to the music. "I've never heard this before. What is it?"

"The X6s have been pillaging houses for pre-Pulse CDs. I think this one is called…" He chewed his lip as he thought about it. "Oh yeah, Zero told me that he found this disc. It's by some singer called… Shania Twain or something like that. Ring a bell?"

Max shook her head. "Must've been pretty far back."

"Yeah. I'd say about 1999-2000ish."

"Hmm… I like it, though."

_You got a way it seems You gave faith to find my dreams_

_You'll never know what that means_

_Can't you see, you got a way with me?_

Alec leaned down and kissed the base of her neck. "Love you, Maxie."

"Love you, too."

It's in the way you want me, it's in the way you hold me 

_The way you show me just what love's made of_

_It's in the way we make love_

"Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?" Max closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of his strong arms around her.

"If we ever get out of this… I mean, when we get out of this… I was wondering if… ya know, you'd ever think about… settling down?"

Max stopped dancing and looked right into Alec's eyes. "Settle down…? Alec, I…"

You got a way with words 

_You kept me smiling even when it hurt_

_There's no way to measure what your love is worth_

_I can't believe the way you get through to me_

"Just say yes, Max," he whispered. "I'm not asking for any kind of commitment right now."

"Yes," Max replied almost reflexively. "Yes, I have some ideas of settling down."

Alec smiled and kissed her.

Oh, how I adore you like no one before you 

_I love you just way you are_

_It's in the way you want me, it's in the way you hold me_

_The way you show me just what love's made of_

_It's in the way we make love_

_It's just the way you are…_

The song ended, and so did the kiss. Max, seemingly in a trance, fell slack into Alec's embrace.

"You want to go home?" he asked, rubbing her back.

"Home," Max repeated groggily. "Home… I have a home. A _real_ home." Her warm brown eyes wandered around the room. It was like heaven.

Zack was dancing with Jondy, holding her as close as possible as he whispered things in her ear and kissed her on the neck. Every now and then Jondy would start laughing and lean her head against his shoulder while he just smiled and continued to dance.

Syl was with Krit. They each danced with one hand on Syl's rounded stomach, smiling at each other and talking in hushed tones. There was a priceless sparkle in their eyes as they looked at each other, giggling and making faces like love-struck schoolchildren.

Pick stood behind Eddie with his head on her shoulder, arms draped around her waist as they gently swayed to the music; not exactly dancing. Contrary to the first two couples, the young teens were had there eyes closed and were totally silent, seemingly mesmerized by the other's presence.

Even Joshua had his girl, who was nearly as tall as him, and he was looking especially happy as he blabbered on. She just smiled at him.

"This place is good for us, Alec. We don't have to worry about secrets, about hiding, about running… we're almost free spirits here," Max commented, raising her head to look at Alec. "I mean, besides the mob that wants to kill us at the gates."

Alec laughed. "You're right, Maxie. Being stuck with all these transgenics is really… how would you put it? Enlightening. I mean, some of them are pretty interesting." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But there's this one… damn, she gets to me."

Max smiled and kissed him. "Mm… same here. I mean, this one just drives me crazy. He's called Mole and he annoys me."

"Ha, ha," grumbled Alec. "Very funny."

"Yeah, I thought so," Max replied, her smile widening. "You know—" She suddenly froze as a sudden sense of dread washed over her. "Alec… Alec, do you…"

Alec gulped and nodded. "Someone's watching." He looked up and his heart dropped to his feet. "Hey! Hey you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

875 saw one of the transgenics spot him, then, almost instantaneously, the rest lifted their heads and started freaking out. "I have been spotted! I repeated, I have been spotted! Order to attack requested!"

_"Order granted. Take them out."_

Grinning devilishly, 875 emptied his gun into the crowd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Everyone! Get down! Get the kids outta here!" Alec shouted over the mass chaos that erupted as bullets started flying. He heard a loud, cattish scream and looked over to see a leopard lying on the floor, riddled with bullets. "Leo!"

Max held back a cry as she saw her fellow transgenics get mowed down, screams of pain and anguish filling the air. When she turned to grab Alec, he was gone… The bullets stopped, but the sound of intense battle followed. "ALEC!"

The attacker was hanging from the second floor of the parking garage by two ropes and Alec had already succeeded in cutting him down using a pocket knife. Now they walked around on the ground in circles, sizing each other up. The attacker was about six-foot-six with well-defined muscles and overly large hands.

"Where the hell did you come from? Did Mr. And Mrs. Bigfoot's child grow up and come to kill us poor transgenics?" Alec growled. "You fucking ass."

"Never been called that before," replied the armored attacker. He lashed out at Alec with staggering speed, managing to punch the X5 right in the face. Alec went flying back into Zack and Krit, who were coming to join the fight. "But you may called me CO 875, your superior."

Max finished clearing the other transgenics from the room and ran over, helping Alec to his feet. "Are you alright?"

875 pulled out his machine gun and aimed it at Max's head. "You don't understand, missy. I've come here to kill you all… there is no time to speak."

Before he could pull the trigger, however, he was tackled from the side by a small flash of color.

"Brin!" Zack yelled, jumping up as 875 and Brin slid across the floor, wrestling all the way. He looked at Krit, who nodded at back. They launched themselves into the fight, pulling 875 off a thoroughly beaten Brin and shoving him into the wall, each holding down one of his arms. "Don't move!" instructed Zack, pulling out his gun and placing it at 875's head. "Or I swear I will blow your brains out."

875 laughed. "Think you're that fast? Or that strong?" He threw his body backwards, causing the gun to go off. Zack and Krit flew off of him, landing near their unconscious sister. But as soon as they were gone, they were replaced by Max, Alec, and Jondy, who threw themselves into 875 with all their might. He ducked Jondy, clipping her on the feet as she flew over his head so that she went crashing headfirst into the wall; then he kicked Max as soon as she was within range.

Alec, however, was a different story. With blinding speed, Alec punched 875 across the face then kicked him in the stomach.

875 fell back, surprised. He put a hand to his busted lip and smiled. "No one's ever drawn my blood before."

"Yeah, well get used to it. There's a lot more where that came from," Alec said, running towards him again.

He struck high, but 875 caught his wrist and kicked him in the stomach. Blood spilled from Alec's mouth from the force of the blow and, almost reflexively, he jumped forward and kicked 875 in the chest, knocking them both to the ground. 875 twisted Alec's arm behind his back and punched him. Alec smashed his head into his opponents and they separated, quickly getting to their feet.

Meanwhile, the other X5s helped each other up. "We can't just let him fight! We've got to do something!" Max cried.

Zack cocked his gun, aimed, and fired.

875 fell to the ground to avoid the bullet and, while he was down, kicked Alec's feet out from under him.

Max watched, frozen with terror, as 875 jumped to his feet and started kicking the living daylights out of her lover. Zack, Krit, and Jondy jumped into action, but she remained where she was, her body like lead. Other transgenics started coming back to join the fight carrying the guns they had run to fetch.

As they neared, 875 pulled out another gun and pointed it at the three advancing X5s. Krit and Zack ducked out of the way, but Jondy got a bullet in a shoulder and went down.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Jondy to the other transgenics as she struggled to sit up. "Wait until he's subdued! You don't want to hit the others!"

By now, Brin had regained consciousness and staggered over. She looked at the line of waiting transgenics and something clicked in her brain. She took over.

"Everyone! Line up! Get ready to overwhelm by numbers!" Brin shouted, fighting back the blinding pain shooting through her body.

875 threw Krit across the room, then got punched across the cheek by Zack. He stumbled backwards, but quickly gained his footing. "Nice shot," 875 said with a smirk. "Now feel this." He darted up to Zack and punched him so hard in the chest that the X5 went flying _through _a wall and kept going until he hit another wall about fifty feet away. He then turned to the opposing transgenics. "Any more takers?"

"Fire!" yelled Brin.

The transgenics pulled their triggers, but before the bullets could even leave their guns… their target was gone.

Brin's eyes widened in shock. "Hold your fire!" She looked around for him, but then she felt cold hard steel pressing into the back of her neck.

"Let's see if barcodes are bullet proof…" 875 said.

Another trigger cocked and 875 suddenly became still.

"How about we see if whatever the hell you are can survive with a bullet lodged inside their brain?" growled Alec, pressing the barrel of his gun into 875's temple.

"I can shoot her at any moment. I suggest you lower your weapon. I'm not afraid to die… and I'm not afraid to kill. You're not afraid to kill. So why don't you kill me?" 875 pressed, the smirk never leaving his face.

"Don't think you're safe just yet," Alec growled. He shoved him to the floor and pressed his foot into his neck.

875 smiled up at him. "Think this'll stop me?" Grabbing Alec's leg, he threw him onto the floor and jumped up.

"Bad move," Alec said with a smirk of his own.

Before 875 could realize what Alec meant, something ripped through his chest. He looked down to see the blood dribbling down his body. Turning around, the air was suddenly filled with the sound of guns firing.

875 fell to the ground… dead.

TBC…


	6. Aftermath

Disclaimer: See Part 1

A/N: Beginning paragraph from "Pardon Me" by Incubus. Many thanks to Starr, who has given me a great suggestion! Brin/Zane. That is such a good idea. Expect some Brin/Zane action to arise. Mwahaha! Don't forget to visit my Terminal City website, http://brin734.tripod.com/terminal_city/

Thanks!

Summary: The transgenics prepare for war and an old 'ally' returns to quell the questions arising in Terminal City.

The Siege 

****

By

Brin 

****

_Pardon me while I burst into flames_

_I've had enough of the world_

_And it's people's mindless games_

_So pardon me while I burn_

_And rise above the flame_

_Pardon me, pardon me, don't ever be the same_

"You think this is all some kind of joke? These kids are like puppies you can bring home and housebreak? They were designed to kill. Coldly… efficiently… and happily. You think because she's so pretty that she isn't as dangerous? They're all killers. All they need is a _trigger_." –Lydecker****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__

****

Chapter 6: Aftermath 

"How many dead?" Max asked quietly.

Baba stared at the floor. "Twenty dead. Thirty-eight wounded."

"Shit," Max whispered, leaning back in her chair. She held her head in her hands and took a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay. That's it. This can't happen again. I want sentries placed everywhere. No nook or cranny left unguarded. Move the pregnant females, the wounded, and the children to the middle of the city with at least thirty guards at all times."

Baba nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Max closed her eyes when he left, hot tears streaming down her face. Twenty. Dead. The thought of so many more dying made her sick. If there were more like him… Genocide was the prominent word in her mind. Would they all die for a lost cause? Was freedom even achievable in this world? She sat like that for a few minutes, her mind racing with doubt, then two soft hands rested on her shoulders.

"You alright?"

Max turned around and looked up at Jondy, who looked down upon her with sad, tear-filled eyes. "I'm fine," the younger X5 said, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

"Don't look fine."

"Jondy, twenty of our own are dead from one attack from one… thing. How are we supposed to fight an entire army of things like him? It just… it just seems so hopeless," Max whispered, the stream of tears down her face increasing. "And I don't know what to do… I don't know what to do… I'm going to get all these people killed."

"No, no you're not," Jondy said, hugging her little sister tightly. "Max, we were caught off-guard. All of us. We're just going to have to take some extra precautions from now on."

Max buried her face in Jondy's uninjured shoulder. "But how many of us have to die before we are totally safe?"

Jondy rubbed Max's back and kissed her on the head. "We'll never know, Maxie. What matters is that you lead us through this. They trust you; respect you, Maxie. Every single transgenic in this city would follow you to their deaths. You've got to realize how profound that is. They look to you for guidance, Maxie."

"But what if I can't? What if I _do_ lead them all to their deaths? Jondy… I'm just not ready for this. I'm not the CO. Zack is. I was made to follow orders, not give them!"

"Max, listen to me," Jondy said sternly. "We are gonna get out of this alive. And you are gonna lead us to our destiny, whether that destiny be the happily ever after we wanted or the afterlife. You would not be made our leader if it was not mean to be. Now go visit your man down at hospital wing. He's been whining at me for hours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max slowly walked down the stairs to the underground hospital wing, in no hurry to face the wounded of this incident. Her eyes swept over the cots dotting the floor. The injuries varied from life-threatening to simple scrapes and scratches. She spotted Eddie and Pick huddled around a cot and went over.

"Hey," said Max quietly as she came to stand next to Eddie, who was crying. She looked down to see Axle lying on the cot, his head bandaged.

"The bullet nicked his skull," Pick stated as he wringed his hands. "He's lucky. Junky… and Hank…"

"They're dead, Max," blurted Eddie, turning her tear-filled eyes to the X5. "Both of them. Gone. Like that." She snapped her fingers. "Our brothers are _dead_."

Max felt her heart sink. "I'm sorry."

They stood there in silence a few moments before Pick stood and stormed out of the room, on the verge of tears. Eddie gave Max an apologetic look before following her boyfriend.

Max waited a second or two after they were gone before setting off in search of her lover once again. She was distracted, however, by the sight of Brin lying on one of the cots with her baby, just a tiny blue bundle, sleeping peacefully on her stomach. Max slowly approached and timidly took a seat next to the cot. "You okay?"

Brin stared off into space. "Yeah. I got a few good bumps and bruises, but otherwise I'm okay," she said quietly.

The tension between them was thick enough to slice with a knife; the silence screaming out words left unsaid. Yes, they had already 'apologized' for what had happened back at Manticore… but the wounds were still fresh. Max had left Brin to the wrath of Renfro and psy-ops for her failure. Brin had possibly slowed Max down enough to get her killed.

"Hey Brin, I, uh… I saw how you took charge back there. You prevented total chaos… thanks," said Max with as much sincerity as she could manage, trying to break the mood.

Brin absently rubbed her baby's back. "It was reflex."

"Yeah, but I wish I could say more for myself," grumbled Max. "I saw him hit Alec and I just froze. Not very soldier-like, I know. That's never happened to me before. It's scary. I felt helpless."

"Every soldier has their weak spot," Brin said with a small, nearly non-existent smile. "You won't always freeze up, Max. You'll get over it."

Max gazed at the tiny baby on Brin's stomach. He was sucking his thumb as he slept, his pudgy little face holding a lot more serenity than most transgenics had ever felt. "How old is he?" she asked, scooting closer.

Brin sighed, instantly regretting the action since her stomach went up enough to shake little Ben, nearly waking him up. She froze for a moment, then, when she was sure he wasn't gonna wake up, she spoke, "About five weeks."

"Oh… he's still just a tiny baby then," commented Max, gently touching the baby's soft cheek. She looked up. "Thanks for coming. I mean, I know this place couldn't have been your first choice to take your kid."

"Max, my first choice was to take my baby where my siblings were… and this is the place. No matter that it happens to be under attack by thousands of Ordinaries out for our blood," Brin said, this time with a wide smile. She opened her mouth to say something more, but little Ben woke up and started making his needs known. "Oh… baby Ben, what's wrong?" cooed the older X5, struggling to sit up even though her body screamed in protest.

"Here, let me take him," suggested Max, removing the tiny bundle from Brin's bruised arms.

Ben's wailing ceased as soon he realized he was in Max's embrace, not his mother's, and he gazed up at her with astonished green eyes. His mouth formed a perfect 'o' in surprise.

"Huh… He usually doesn't like strangers," Brin said in a matter-of-factly tone, watching the two as she pulled herself into an upright position. She rested her arms on her knees and took a deep breath, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through her spine.

"Are you okay?" asked Max, handing Ben back to her pseudo sister.

Brin nodded, but her pursed lips and deep breaths betrayed her. "I'll be fine."

"Well… if you ever need anything… ya know, to talk or maybe some babysitting help with little Ben… just stop by. Alright?"

"I will," replied Brin with a crooked smile.

Max stood and grinned back. "See ya."

"Yeah."

The younger X5 hesitated a moment, then bent down and gave Brin a hug. "Great to see you again, Brin. I missed you and… I thought I had lost you…"

Brin lowered her eyes. "You _did_ lose me for a second there, Max… I'm just glad to be back." She gave Max a kiss on the forehead. "Thanks for kicking my ass and destroying the DNA lab. Knocked a little sense into me when they tossed me into psy-ops for like three months and, almost immediately after, stuck me with some strange X5 from another facility as breeding partners. I mean, it was a wake up call… I saw that they didn't care about me. They had burned the idea that Manticore cared for its soldiers into my mind."

"I'm glad you're back," Max said with a rueful smile. "We're gonna need you."

"Damn straight!" exclaimed Brin wryly. She jumped in surprise as Ben began howling again, little fists flailing angrily. "Okay… okay…"

Max laughed and wandered off in search of her lover once gain. She found him at the back of the room, all by himself, sitting there facing the wall. Not wanting to surprise him, she approached the side of the cot and cleared her throat.

"You know, Max, I'm not quite sure what was going through my mind when I let that guy beat the living shit outta me," Alec said, not turning around. "I could've had him. I could've handed his ass back to him on a platter. I… I…"

Alarmed, Max took a step back.

"I could've prevented so much if I had just gotten my head in the game. Lydecker always said…"

"Lydecker," interrupted Max, "was a sadistic asshole who fed us enough shit to double the size of New York's landfill."

Alec turned around and gazed at her with red eyes. "Max, he snuck up on us on our own turf. I should've sensed him! I should've been able to prevent everyone from dieing today."

Max sat down and took Alec's hand. "Alec… there's nothing any of us could've done. I mean… we were all out there, having a good time, and not thinking of the outside world because so far, we haven't had any attacks so we were just relaxing for once."

"It… it's just… damn it, Max… I wish I had been able to prevent what happened," Alec said, curling into a fetal position on the bed.

"So do the rest of us, Alec. It was no fault of yours that those people died," comforted Max, pulling his head into her lap. "No one thinks any less of anyone else…" She stroked his hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

They had been sitting like that for a few minutes and Max, emotionally exhausted, had nearly fallen asleep when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes?" she asked, not turning around.

"Max, you're not gonna believe this…"

Max turned her head and looked up at Krit. "What?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," yelled Max as she stormed through the dark streets of Terminal City, pulling on her leather jacket. "_Please_ tell me you're joking."

"I'm not," replied Krit. "See for yourself."

Max shot Alec an unsure look.

They came to a dark, crumbling warehouse and Krit opened the door, allowing Max and Alec to step across the threshold before entering himself. He led them through the darkness, weaving between rotting crates and abandoned equipment until they reached the opposite end of the warehouse, where some of the X5 siblings from '09 were gathered around a torch held by Zack. They were all turned inward, staring at something in the middle of the group.

Max tapped Jondy on the shoulder and the older X5 sister moved out of the way, followed by the rest of the X5s. "Holy shit," whispered Max, shaking her head at the person sitting in the chair before her.

His face was covered in thin scars and his hair was grayer than before, but there was no mistaking this man. This man that had caused Max's entire life to be a living hell. This man who was responsible for the death of Tinga, Eva, and Jack…

"Lydecker," Max growled through clenched teeth. She walked up and punched him, _hard_.

Zane quickly pulled her away from their former trainer. "Max! Calm down!"

Max glared at Lydecker and spat at his feet. "What _the hell_ is he doing _here_?"

"He was sneaking around the perimeter fence," answered Syl, going around behind 'Deck and looking him over almost curiously.

"I was trying to get in," Lydecker suddenly interrupted, the mere sound of his voice making all the X5s jump. "After all, I had heard that the national guard thought the transgenic defense to be weak and unorganized. I was disappointed in my kids."

"Cut the bullshit," Max said, breaking loose of Zane's grip and angrily stomping up to the colonel. "Tell us why you're here. Or we can have a replay of what happened the last time we had you tied up."

Zack slammed the clip into a gun and pointed it at him.

"You can still be an organ donor," declared Max with a smirk. "Now explain why you have decided to come back from the grave and haunt us."

"I was never dead," Lydecker began, staring around at them.' "I escaped the men chasing me by playing dead and floating down the river. I had plans of coming back and helping you and Logan, but something came up… I assume you've all heard of the Familiars?"

"Only what Max told us," replied Jondy.

"Yes, well the Familiars were on my tail day and night. Whenever I turned around, they were there. I have not had a good night's sleep in months. They were bent on finding out where you all were and how they could catch you… and then, one day, it all stopped. I lost all track of them and thought they had lost all track of me." He sighed. "But, a few days later, I saw Max's face plastered on every newsstand in the nation. I located this place, this 'Terminal City,' and came here to help you."

"You can't help us," growled Zack. "We don't need your help."

"Is that so?" Lydecker snapped, his voice hinting that he knew something that they didn't. "Don't be so sure of yourselves. Just ask your friend 494. He knows."

They all turned around and looked at Alec, who was staring at the ground, refusing to meet their gaze.

"You have no idea what your bodies are capable of doing," explained the colonel, drawing attention back to himself. "Nine years of training was not nearly enough for you to learn how to use your… powers to their full extent. 494 is smarter, faster, and better than the rest of you because he got that extra ten years. He knows what you're all capable of. Isn't that right, 494?"

"Will you stop bothering him?" barked Max.

Lydecker looked in-between them suspiciously, but didn't press his luck. "I can teach you. I can show you how to be better than you already are."

"Thanks, 'Deck, but we've made it alright thus far," Syl said, glaring at him.

"No… you guys, he's right," interrupted Alec, surprising everyone. "After you guys left, we were shown what we could do… it's amazing. It would really help us… all of us… if you would let him teach you a thing or two."

Lydecker gave the rest of the X5s a cocky grin. "Listen to him. He's right."

"We'll think about it," said Max, gesturing for her siblings to follow her as she walked away. "Alec, can you watch him?"

"Sure thing," he replied, accepting the gun from Zack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't like it. He's up to something. Lydecker is _always_ up to something," said Zane, shaking his head.

"He _did_ help us back when we destroyed the lab," said Krit tentatively. "I mean, it took a lot of nerve for him to do that. We practically blew up his life work."

"That's right," Zack piped in. "But Logan _did_ have to keep him at gunpoint… and he did betray us about five times before he cooperated."

"Never thought tough guy Zack would be the voice of reason," grumbled Zane, shooting Zack a glare.

Max looked in-between them and placed a hand on Zane's chest. "Hey! Stop it! We need to think long and hard about this!" She glanced over her shoulder at Lydecker. "He has the same enemies as us… and there are hundreds of us here. We could have someone watching him all the time. He couldn't do anything."

"Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer," Syl piped in, looking around at her brothers and sisters.

"The enemy of our enemy is our best friend," Krit added. "He taught us that, you guys… and I don't know about you, but it's one of the things I've been able to use."

"All in favor of letting 'Deck show his worth?" Max raised her arm.

Krit, Jondy, Zack, and Syl raised their arms in support.

"Zane, he's all we got," reasoned Jondy with a sigh.

"Alright… but if he so much as looks at us the wrong way…" He slammed his fist into his opposite palm. "He's dead."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, I remember you and your twin, 493," Lydecker said to Alec.

Alec looked down at him. "You were always with Max's unit; hardly ever with mine. We were the trouble makers; never followed orders."

"Yes, but you were one of Manticore's best soldiers. You and X5-599… You both are the image of perfection in the Xs. The X6s were not as quick-witted as you two. The X7s were deprived of all independent thought until they escaped… and the X8s… they were designed to work by sheer force, no brain power. That's why your sparring matches were showcased to all of Manticore's available soldiers. They loved watching you, 494. You were everything they were told they wanted to be."

"Don't try to butter me up," growled Alec. "I'm not your ally so don't even start to formulate a plan that has anything to do with me. I won't help you. None of us will."

Lydecker laughed. "You never change, you kids."

Alec turned and looked at him quizzically, but the other X5s came back over before he could ask about Lydecker's comment.

"Okay, here's the deal," said Max, leaning close to Lydecker. "You are kept under 24-hour watch. You do nothing without the permission of your assigned watcher. You don't sleep unless they say you can. You don't eat unless they say you can. You don't piss unless they say you can. Got it? And if you try anything funny, or even cause suspicion that you are about to double-cross us…" She gestured to the gun in Zack's hand. "We'll blow your brains out. Capisce?"

"I understand," Lydecker replied. "Will you release me now?" He pulled at his handcuffs, which were a little too tight.

Max looked to Zack for confirmation, who shrugged. "I'm not the CO anymore, Max. I think everyone here knows that you are the leader now. You decide," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright… release him, but keep the cuffs handy. Who wants first assignment as watcher?" she asked, looking around.

"I'll do it," volunteered Jondy, shooting 'Deck a glare. "I haven't had a chance to spend time with dear old Lydecker."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max walked home alone that night, since Alec had gone off to do some planning with the other X5s and promised to be home in half an hour. She didn't really feel like facing anymore reality today and excused herself. No one thought anything of it.

As she was going down a particularly shaded street, she saw three cats walk into a steel door that was slightly ajar, followed by two more. Curious, the X5 slipped inside after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The abandoned factory was particularly moldy, with slick floors and walls covered in green moss. Max followed the trail of cats until she reached a small, cave-like area formed by wooden crates, most of which were covered in fishnets. The area was lit by a single, batter-powered lamp sitting on a table. The cats were milling about like lazy Jam Pony employees, some of them munching on their latest catches…

"What are you doing here?"

Max jumped in surprise and whirled around to see Eddie standing there, dressed in military fatigues. "I—I just thought it was kinda weird with all the cats coming in here and everything. What are _you_ doing here?"

Eddie pushed past the X5 and sat at the table where she opened up a plastic bag and began munching on some cheese as five of the cats poked their heads in, fighting over the beef jerky.

"You know, cats are usually solitary animals… but they seem to enjoy it here, together. I mean, in this world you've got to have friends, right?" said Eddie, staring off into space.

"Are you alright? You're not yourself tonight," commented Max nonchalantly. She frowned as she noticed the blood leaking from the girl's temple. "Eddie… did someone hi you?"

"Two friends dead in a period of five seconds… I don't think anyone would be peachy after that," replied Eddie, equally nonchalant. She didn't even act like she had heard Max's observation about the blood. "You answer me now. What do you want?"

"I was just checking the place out… nice little cove you got here. Private." Max gave the anomaly a hopeful smile.

"Until you came."

Max looked genuinely hurt at Eddie's words. "Gee… nice to see you, too, friend."

Eddie glared at her. "Will you just go away?"

"Look, if you came out here to sulk and piss off at everybody that comes your way, then maybe I _will_ leave," said Max in a raised voice. "You know what, to hell with you! You are not the only one who lost a friend and had a really shitty day, alright? Think about someone else for once! The rest of us are suffering, too. I just thought you were mature enough to realize how much we understand what you're going through and how much we want to help. I'm out of here." She turned and started walking away when she heard muffled sobs. Sensing she had gone a little overboard on the hurting teen, Max turned around and gulped. "Eddie?"

The young anomaly was rocking back and forth on her backless chair, rubbing her arms and whimpering as if she was in pain.

Max tentatively went over to the girl and reached out to touch her shoulder, only to have her hand swatted away. "What's wrong?"

Eddie stood up and backed away from Max, shaking her head. "No…no!"

"Hey, calm down! Just calm down," said the chimera, alarmed at Eddie's sudden change.

By now, the anomaly was hyperventilating and had backed up against the wall. She slid down into a sitting position and pulled her knees to her chest. "D-d-d-d-don't touch me…"

Max stared at her friend for a moment, then she noticed something peculiar… Eddie's hands were shaking. "Hey, you're starting to shiver. What's wrong?" She resolutely moved forward and knelt next to the young transgenic. "Talk to me, Eddie."

"I-I-I-I-I need to get out, n-n-need to go. I n-n-n-need to g-g-g-go," she stuttered in reply, the words dieing in her throat. Her arms and upper body were shaking now.

"Tell me what's wrong!" Max grabbed a hold of Eddie's shaking wrists. "Don't fight me. What is it?"

Eddie's head fell back against the wall, her eyes rolling up into her head. Violent shudders ran through her entire body now.

"Holy shit, seizures!" Max cried as the realization washed over her. She jumped to her feet and pulled the younger transgenic into her arms. "Hold on, Eddie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec's head whipped up as Max burst into the meeting room screaming for someone to help her. He spotted Eddie's tiny form hanging from Max's arms and ran over to relieve his lover of her burden.

"What happened?" asked Zack, clearing off the table so Alec could place her on top of it.

"She's seizing. I don't know what happened… one minute she was fine, then she started freaking out on me and… shit, don't let her die," pleaded Max, her heart pounding in her head.

Alec used his belt to strap one of her arms to the table and felt her wrist. "Blood pressure rising. Her heart's racing."

Jondy pulled out some rope and tied down her legs while Zack used his belt to strap down her other arm. Syl waved her hand over Eddie's mouth. "Breathing is shallow and quick."

"Going into cardiac arrest," shouted Alec. "Anyone got an idea what's wrong?"

Krit pulled a bottle of liquid tryptophan and a syringe from the emergency medical bag on the floor. He filled the syringe and handed it to Max. "You think it'll work?"

Max injected a small amount of the clear liquid into Eddie's arm, just to be safe. "I… I don't know. We haven't a clue what's wrong with her."

"You're lucky Krit insists we carry around the medical bag," commented Zack.

"But we don't know if it works yet," Max pointed out. "She's still seizing."

As if on cue, Eddie stopped seizing… in fact, she stopped all movement at all. Alec felt her neck. "Max, no pulse."

Max shook her head, a horrible weight dropping on her shoulders. "No… no! She… she can't be…"

"She's dead," confirmed Krit as he felt her wrist. "There's nothing there, Max."

"No, she's not," interrupted a voice. The X5s whirled around to look at Lydecker, who was tried a chair a few feet away. He smirked at them. "If you untie me, I'll help her." When no one moved, he added, "You've got a little less than a minute to let me revive her before she's beyond my aid."

Max glared at him, but ran over and quickly untied him. "Move fast, asshole." She shoved him towards the table.

Lydecker pulled a vial of blue liquid from his jacket's inside pocket and grabbed a syringe from the medical bag. He filled the syringe and injected it into Eddie's neck, emptying the entire thing. "There. She'll be a little stiff, but she'll live," announced the colonel. He pulled Eddie into an upright position and smacked her on the back twice.

The second time his fist made contact, Eddie's eyes shot open and she gasped, air rushing into her lungs. She looked around, confused, then turned and vomited on the floor.

Max breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed Eddie's back as the anomaly threw up again. "You're gonna be okay," she whispered.

Eddie, disoriented, nauseated, and sore, buried her face in Max's shoulder and began to sob from sheer exhaustion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five minutes later they were all sitting around the fire in Max and Alec's apartment living room, each waiting for someone to ask Lydecker about what happened. Syl had been sent to fetch Pick.

Zack was the first to speak up, "So what was wrong with her?"

Lydecker glanced over his spectacles at Eddie, who was wrapped up in a blanket on the floor. "X6-301 was diagnosed at the age of three with an advanced form of the seizures you X5s experienced. She has the same need for tryptophan, but there are several other chemicals in her brain that aren't properly supplied. These deficiencies cause things like delirium, hallucinations, flashbacks, irritability, seizures, and cold spells. The liquid I gave her contains high amounts of these missing chemicals. Back at Manticore she was made not to remember that she has this problem."

"So the tryptophan would have done nothing?" asked Krit.

"It would have made her life span a few seconds longer, but that's it."

"Well, aren't you just Mr. Good-timing?" sneered Zane.

"Yes, you are all very lucky I showed up," replied Lydecker with a smirk. "Now lose the attitude and listen to me. You people are in way over your head. There are new prototypes out for your blood."

"New prototypes?" Jondy was wide-awake now. "What do you mean by that? I thought the X8s were the newest."

"You wouldn't understand. There were three Manticore facilities—one in Gillette, one just outside Seattle, and one in Oregon. The facility in Oregon had its own plan. It didn't share notes with anyone else and it developed soldiers capable of killing Xs in hand-to-hand battle without getting a scratch. They were years ahead of the other two facilities, but their prototypes were not born until a little before the X6s were created. Their soldiers are called Centurions and they have been trained as X-killing machines. Faster, stronger, smarter… these guys are not to be taken lightly. I've never seen them in action, but I've read the reports."

Max narrowed her eyes. "That means… the man that was here earlier! The one that killed all those transgenics! He was a Centurion!"

Lydecker looked surprised. "You've _met _one of them already?"

"Yes. He killed twenty of us," said Zack solemnly.

"Twenty?!" Lydecker gasped. "That's not good. I found through some closed sources that they've brought in fourteen soldiers. If one of them alone can do that much damage… just think of the possibilities of the rest working together…"

Just then, the door opened and Brin stepped inside, little Ben nestled in the pack on her chest. She looked at Max and gestured for her to come outside.

"Excuse me," said Max, standing up and following her sister out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's up?" asked Max as the door closed behind them.

Brin sighed. "Syl told me what happened, but I told her to go home and get some sleep instead of finding Pick given her condition and all…" She leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. "So I went after Pick and found out from an X7 who had witnessed the whole thing that Pick and the anomaly, Eddie, had a spat before the seizures occurred. They were yelling and screaming, then he _hit _her and she left. Pick shut the door in my face and refused to listen to anything I had to say when I asked him to come."

Max cringed and rubbed her hand down her face. "Well that's just what Eddie needs," she grumbled. "I'll get Alec to talk to him. He might be more willing to listen to a male." She rubbed Brin's shoulder. "Are you alright? You're kinda pale."

"A little sleep is all I need," replied the older X5 with a weak smile.

"You want someone to take you home?" asked Max.

"I'm fine…"

"No, I insist. I'll see if one of the boys doesn't mind. You've got Ben to worry about, after all." Max smiled and hugged her sister. "I don't want anything happening to either of you." She opened the door and poked her head inside. "Zane, Zack, Krit? Any of you wanna take Brin back home?"

Zane, surprisingly, was the first to stand up. "I will."

Max grinned. "Thanks."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon after Zane and Brin left, Krit, Zack, Jondy, and Lydecker also excused themselves for the night. It was, after all, about 3 o'clock in the morning. Alec breathed a sigh of relief as he finally closed the door behind them, resting his head against the doorframe. "I am gonna need some therapy when this is all over." He turned around and looked at Max, who was holding Eddie like a concerned mother. "Are you alright, Maxie?"

"I am, but she's not," Max said as she brushed a strand of hair from Eddie's pale, blank face. The eerie thing was that Eddie's eyes were open and her jaw hung slack, as if she was in some sort of coma. "She needs to eat."

"Well… how are we gonna feed her? She's not responding and she might choke," he said, scratching his chin. "You think spoon-feeding would work?

Max face went from surprised to pleased to mischievous. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." She grinned at him. "Alec, _Monty Cora_, the greatest boxer ever, is willing to spoon-feed an anomaly? Personally, I never thought you resorted to such labor."

"That's very funny," growled Alec. "I resent that, you know."

"Aw… I'm sorry, baby," crooned Max. She gently placed Eddie back on the blanket and stood to give Alec a quick kiss. "I won't make fun of you anymore."

Alec poked out his bottom lip. "Thank you. It's about time I got some respect."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brin shivered as the cold Seattle air penetrated her clothes. She had wrapped baby Ben in her jacket to keep him warm.

Zane noticed her shivering and removed his leather jacket, gingerly placing it around her shoulders. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah."

"What about Ben?"

Brin looked down. "He's fine."

"Good," Zane mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. He noticed she still seemed a little cold and put his arm around her. "Better?"

"You don't have to do that," she replied, her eyes never leaving the ground.

"Of course I do, Bri." He smiled and kissed her on the head. "Remember that training mission where Lydecker made us go outside during a blizzard wearing nothing but those hospital gowns? I was a total wuss… I remember collapsing in the snow and just curling up into a ball. Remember what you did when you found me, Brin?"

Brin grinned nervously. "How could I forget?"

Zane laughed as he stared up at the sky, the memory playing like a movie through his mind.

734 stared down at 205, blinking the snow from her eyes. She looked around for any of her other siblings, but they were nowhere to be found  in the blizzard. 205 was curled up in a ball in a snow bank and not moving. 734 went over to one of the pine trees and pulled off a few branches, covering 205 with them then sliding underneath with him. He hugged her close and their body heat, combined with the makeshift tent provided by the pine branches, saved 205 from freezing to death.

"Scared the shit outta me," declared Zane. "That a girl was lying there in a hospital gown next to me."

Brin laughed. "Zane, we were six."

"Yes, and girls had… COOTIES!" he cried, throwing his arms in the air.

"Really?" Brin narrowed her eyes at him and grinned mischievously. "Then consider yourself infected." She gave him a quick peck on the hand.

"Aaah! Cooties!" yelled Zane, jerking his arm away and taking a few steps backwards.

Brin's almond-shaped eyes widened. "Uh… Zane…"

Zane gave her a quizzical look, and then the sidewalk disappeared from underneath his foot and he started falling backwards. Brin jumped forward and grabbed his hand, yanking him back up onto the sidewalk. There was little sidewalk left for him to steady himself on, however, and he ended up wrapping both arms around Brin's waist in an effort to stay standing, but was careful of baby Ben nestled in the pack on her chest. They stayed like that awhile, each too terrified to move, before Ben finally decided to break the silence by grabbing onto Zane's necklace. Brin and Zane looked down simultaneously, bumping heads.

"Ow!" they shouted in unison.

Ben giggled.

"You like that, huh?" asked Zane, poking Ben's pudgy cheek. He looked up at the baby's mother and smiled. "Cute kid. Hate to say he doesn't bear too much resemblance to you besides the dark hair…"

Brin shrugged. "Looks like his father."

"Ah… right. That's too bad… his mother's absolutely gorgeous," he said quietly, almost whispering.

"Are you flirting with me, Mr. Girls-have-cooties?" asked Brin.

"Maybe…"

A few moments later, Brin realized something and said, "Zane?"

"Yes?"

"You can remove your hands from my ass now."

Zane flushed dark red and quickly unwrapped his arms from her waist, moving a few feet away in embarrassment. Brin laughed and kissed him on the cheek, pulling his arm over her shoulder once again. They got their first taste of what it was like to be… well, normal, as they walked home, laughing and remembering 'old times.'


	7. Blah Blah Meow Meow

Disclaimer: See Part 1 

Summary: The shit has hit the fan and now the transgenic can only train and wait for the oncoming attack they know is coming. Life goes on for the younger transgenics, however; love abounds between some while other relationships are torn to shreds. Meanwhile, Ames White returns to the transgenic scene and finds that he has a whole new deck of cards to play when he meets Colonel Briggs.

The Siege 

****

by

Brin 

"Hope is for losers. It's a con job people trip behind till they finally get a grip on the cold, hard truth." –Max

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 7: Blah Blah Meow Meow 

That night Max and Alec spent pouring liquid down Eddie's throat and trying to revive the almost comatose girl. They had started out trying to feed her some saltine crackers, but in the end she only vomited it all back up. So (after changing Alec's soiled shirt) they moved on to water. She seemed to take that pretty well, but it obviously wasn't enough. Gathering up their bottle cap money, they had bought some fruit and mixed the juices—guava, lemon, apple, and orange. It was actually good and by morning, Eddie was showing signs of waking up.

"You want something to eat?" asked Max, touching Eddie's hand. They were sitting in the living room. Alec had just gotten home from getting their daily rations.

Eddie shook her head.

"Don't think you can take it?"

"Mm-mm," mumbled the anomaly.

Max smiled. "Hey! A little sound. We're getting somewhere."

Alec took a seat next to his lover and checked Eddie's head wound. "It's healing nicely."

"It must've been some fight if he hit her that hard," commented Max with a sigh. "They were such a good couple… I wonder what happened."

"You mentioned you wanted me to talk to him… I should go do that before she totally wakes up," he said, standing up again. He kissed her on the forehead. "Back in few."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec found Pick holed up in an apartment inside the X Hotel as it had come to be called. He knocked on the door and, when he got no answer, shrugged and just kicked it in.

Pick was lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He had some stubble poking out from his chin and was in dire need of sleep.

"You. Explain. Now," Alec instructed, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"What the hell do you want?" moaned Pick, rolling over onto his stomach.

"Your girlfriend had seizures strong enough to kill her and now she's in an almost comatose state and you don't even care if she's okay? There's something not right there," said Alec, leaning back in the chair. "Because you two obviously love each other and I don't know what could be serious enough to tear you apart. True love is a hard thing to find."

"True love? Is that what you call it now? I thought it was called cruel and unusual punishment!" snapped the X6.

Alec winced. "Ow, now you see that hurts because I know I love Max, and it's true love, but I don't consider it cruel and unusual punishment. Believe me, Pick, when you're old enough… having a girl with you 24/7 is a good thing, if you know what I mean."

Pick glared at him. "Look, I don't know what you were told, but Eddie and I are over and that's it. It's finished. Finito."

"That's kind of sudden, you know… come on, tell Alec allll about your problems. After all, I spent more than my share of time in psy-ops… maybe I can help."

"Screw you."

Alec laughed and patted Pick on the head. "Wonderful. You're getting out your anger. Now, let's see where the base of our problem is. What were you fighting over?"

"She's a bitch."

"I… see… well, can you elaborate on that?"

Pick squirmed a bit. "She's just a bitch."

"Aah… I understand… you don't even know what you were fighting over?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then…?"

Pick sat up and continued to glare at Alec. "Well, she was trying to get me to tell her what I was thinking and I was ignoring her so she got a little annoyed… She started becoming more incessant and I was getting mad. I yelled something about her being a nosy bitch who didn't know when to stop… then I said she was just a stupid anomaly. She told me I was being a jerk and I wasn't thinking straight; that I was acting childish." He suddenly dropped the glare and pinned his eyes to the floor. "I didn't mean to hit her. It was instinct… I mean, my arm almost moved by itself! I didn't know what was happening until she slapped me and ran off crying."

Alec nodded. "I see… I see…" He scratched the back of his head. "The only way you two are gonna get through this fight is by getting rid of those harsh feelings. So, that in mind, tell me the circumstances under which you and Eddie met."

This seemed to spark some feeling in Pick, as his eyes seemed to light up. "The night of the escape was total chaos. Everyone was either running from their barracks or being dragged out 'em. I am the oldest X6 to date, and I was leading a group of X8s from the facility along with some X5s. As I reached the perimeter fence, I saw something lying in the grass…"

_~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (flashback)_

X6-901 helped an especially young X8 climb over the fence, then turned around to make sure that there were no more left behind. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see something wriggling around in the grass. He ran over, thinking it was an X, only to find a cat-faced anomaly crouched down, attempting to walk. His first instinct caused him to cower back from the creature, then she looked up at him with almond-shaped doe eyes.

_"Help me! My leg's broken!" she cried desperately, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight as she spoke._

_901 took a few steps backwards, then shook the fear from his head and grabbed her extended hand, pulling her to her feet. He tossed her over his shoulder and climbed the perimeter fence, dropping her on the ground as he reached the other side. "You take it from here," he said before running off into the darkness._

_~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (end flashback)_

"And I didn't see her for two more months. Everything had settled down and we were just settling in to our new lifestyle. I was called to San Francisco by one of my old friends. So I took off on my stolen motorcycle, sneaking through sector checkpoints with a fake I.D. I was driving through the woods late one afternoon when she jumped out of the trees, knocked me off my bike, stole my money, and ran off. Naturally, I followed her…"

_~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (flashback)_

_"Hey!" yelled 901 as he ran through the woods after the thief who had stolen the $400 cash from his wallet. "Get back here!" He could see the thief ahead of him, moving like a cheetah through the brush._

_They ran like this for a few minutes before 901 suddenly lost sight of the person. He stopped and listened. Nothing moved. There was no sound. He took another step forward, then was suddenly pulled into the air by his ankle._

_"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he yelled, furious with his undignified position, hanging ten feet off the ground._

_"Bad word," said a distinctly female voice from behind him._

_901 twisted his body around to see an anomaly sitting on the tree branch he was hanging from. "You!"_

_"And you!" responded the anomaly, equally surprised. "You're the one who left me outside Manticore like nothing more than a bag of rotten post-Pulse potatoes."_

_901 saw bad things coming. Her tone indicated anger and her face… well, if looks could kill… "I was preoccupied. I had X8s to think about."_

_"Oh really?" snapped the anomaly. She pulled a knife from her pocket and cut the rope, causing Pick to fly headfirst into the ground. "I guess they forgot to give you some cat DNA to cure that horrible falling business."_

_901 raised his head and glared at her. "That was quite painful." He spat leaves. "And most X6s had a blast of canine DNA, anyway…"_

_"Well that's a load of bullshit for me, 'cause I'm an X6 too," said the anomaly, wiggling her pointed ears and swishing her tail to prove her point._

_"That's impossible," replied 901 as he struggled to stand up. "You're a 'nomlie."_

_"No, it's not. What, do you think Manticore created anomalies on purpose? We're all Xs, we just… came out a bit different."_

_"You can say that again."_

_"We're all Xs, we just came out a bit different," repeated the anomaly with a smirk. She jumped onto the ground and put him in a headlock. "Now, I know you want your money back but I'm not gonna give it to you. So you can either walk away now or I'll make sure you regret ever 'saving' me."_

_901 thrust his body forward, loosening the headlock and causing the anomaly to stumble a bit. He punched her on the back and attempted to kick her feet out from under her, but she flipped backwards and kicked him in the face with both feet. 901 staggered back, his nose broken, and glared at his opponent. "That's it!" he yelled, running forward. He punched the anomaly across the face, then kicked her in the stomach. She ducked his next kick and punched him in the neck. 901 fell back, gasping for air._

_"Oh… is the wittle X6 hurt?" cooed the anomaly mockingly._

_"B…bitch!" choked 901, running forward despite his lack of breath._

_This turned out to be a mistake, since his movements were slowed by the lack of oxygen and his anomaly opponent took full advantage of that. She punched him in the face a few times, shoved him backwards, then, seemingly as an afterthought, kneed him in the groin._

_901 fell to the ground moaning._

The anomaly patted him on the head. "You poor thing. Don't worry, I probably didn't cause any… permanent damage." She blew him a kiss. "Hope you don't mind if I fence your bike," she added before running off in the direction of the road.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (end flashback)

Pick grinned at the memory. "Later, she told me that she got 10-grand on that baby. Pretty good money nowadays."

Alec was obviously impressed. "10-grand you say? Must've been some bike."

"Nah. I think it was just her smooth-talking that got her the cash. You know, she could always talk her way out of anything…" Pick ran his fingers through his hair. "But I wouldn't listen last night. I hit her. I mean, I injured the one girl that I mean to spend the rest of my life with, no matter how miserable that life may be…"

"Pick, I'm gonna be straight with you on this one: hitting your girl is just about the worst thing you can do in a relationship. It's gonna be hard to patch this up and you'll get frustrated with her; you're gonna wanna give up… but, in the end, it'll work out. Trust me here. No one 'cept Max has ever heard me talking like a sentimental fool, so I suggest you take my advice and use it." He stood up. "Now, if you don't mind, we should go see how our women are doing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max shouted triumphantly as she pulled a battery-powered CD-player from the closet. "I am sooo good," she declared, turning around and grinning at Eddie. "How about a little musaac to lighten things up?"

Eddie stared at her for a moment, then nodded her head.

"I'm not gonna play it until you use those vocal cords again."

"Y…yes," croaked the girl in a hoarse voice.

Max sighed. "You poor girl… I wish I could help you." Eddie gave her a weak smile. "Okay, so what'll it be? So far I've managed to scrounge up only pre-Pulse bands. I got Incubus, Missy Elliot, Jay Z, Staind, Ja Rule, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, and… Eminem. Whaddya think?"

Eddie pointed at the Linkin Park CD and shrugged.

"Alright. Let's try this." Max put the CD in and pressed play. The volume had been left all the way up and Max almost fell over in surprise. She quickly turned it down and staggered over to sit next to Eddie, feigning exhaustion. "I'm getting old, Ed. I'm TWENTY! Not nineteen anymore… TWENTY. I'm not a teenager anymore… What are you, fifteen? I forget."

Eddie frowned and held up six fingers.

"Oh… sorry… sixteen. I knew that. Silly me." She chuckled and slumped down into the couch cushions with a sigh. "Gosh, I think I might _actually_ need some sleep later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alec and Pick walked down the grimy hallway of the apartment building in which he and Max were staying. They weren't quite sure what was coming, but Pick was convinced that Eddie was gonna attack him as soon as he stepped in the door.

"If you're this worried, then maybe I should go in first," suggested Alec, hopping over a fallen beam.

"Yeah, that would be best… but then again, she might jump up and bite your face off, thinking it was me…"

Alec laughed and smacked Pick on the back. "Calm down. The worst she can do is kill you."

"No, the worst she can do is not forgive me, then let me live," replied Pick.

They came to the apartment door and Alec turned to face Pick. "Ready, bro?"

Pick listened for a moment to make sure that Eddie wasn't standing right inside the door with a butcher knife, then shrugged. "I guess so."

Alec reached for the doorknob, then paused. "Wait? Do you hear that?" He looked up at the ceiling.

"Yeah… it sounds like… giggling. From inside."

"No shit, Einstein. But do you hear something else?"

Pick concentrated on picking up any sound. It took him a few minutes, but he finally heard it… and it was getting louder. "Helicopters."

"Ten of 'em… headed this way." Alec threw the door open. "Max, helicopters!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ames White watched the helicopters flying over his head towards Terminal City and sighed, shaking his head. "S1W assholes," he mumbled, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.

_"Speak,"_ commanded the icy voice of the Familiar elder priestess.

"This place is worse than back at the hostage situation," White yelled over the chanting of the crowd. "We've got anti-transgenic and a few pro-transgenic mobs running around burning things. It's just a matter of time before they bust down those barricades and kill the transgenics themselves."

"The Conclave has requested that you stay down there, or at least have someone posted there, at all times. Our big break could come at any time, and we would be most disappointed if we missed it. This is your once chance to redeem yourself, White. Fail and your life is up for negotiation."

White frowned as the line ended. "Great." He turned to Otto. "I want men here, mingled with the crowd 24/7. Got that?"

Otto nodded. "I'll get right on it."

As Otto walked away, White noticed the military humvee sitting inside the barricades. Standing next to the humvee were thirteen teenagers of about 17 to 20, dressed for full combat and holding automatics. A man in his mid-thirties wearing in expensive clothing was saying something to them. He closed his cell and walked past the barricades, flashing the police his badge. As he neared the group, one of them broke off and blocked his way.

"Excuse me, Sir, do you have clearance?" asked the teen, who looked to be about 18.

Ames looked the young man in the eye and held up his badge. "Special Agent In-Charge White. I would like to speak to your superior."

The young man turned and walked back to the older man and whispered in his ear. After a few moments, the superior said something back and walked up to White.

"Special Agent In-Charge White," said the man, looking White up and down over his sunglasses. "I'm Colonel Briggs. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Who do you work for?" asked White, ignoring Briggs' cockiness.

"I don't think I have to tell you that," Briggs replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look, I know those kids are Manticore. Why else would they be here?"

Briggs removed his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes at White. "Let's have a little chat inside."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four hundred armed transgenics hid behind debris and inside windows as ten black helicopters touched down in a recently-cleared street.

Max, who had made sure to get a bullet-proof vest from the supply room, was the only one to show herself. She waited until the helicopter turned off before approaching it.

There were people—not soldiers, but _normal_ people dressed in _normal_ clothes—sitting inside one of the open choppers, and they jumped out as soon as the helicopter touched down. Only one of them had a familiar face, and of all people it had to be—

"Asha," said Max, shaking her head as she walked up to the blonde woman. "What are you doing here and where the hell did you get a bunch of _military_ helicopters?!"

Asha grinned and held out her hand. "Good to see you alive, too, Max."

Max shook Asha's hand with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Now what are you doing here? I hope you don't think we're gonna house and protect a bunch of your people. We take care of our own and you should, too. And goddamn it, how did you get these helicopters?"

"And if you really want to know… these choppers were about to be scrapped so S1W bought them and several mechanics and pilots were able to fix 'em up real nice. S1W then saw what you were doing here and decided to help out. We've got enough food to feed an army of a thousand for two weeks, clothing and blankets, and enough bullets and ammo to arm every transgenic in this God-forsaken place."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Max, looking at the helicopters. "You fit all that in those?"

"Took out a few things and had no co-pilot in a few of the birds… but we managed," Asha replied. "Happy to see me now?"

Max, shocked beyond words, stepped forward and _hugged_ Asha.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright, what's your deal?" demanded Briggs.

White leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. "That depends. Can you keep a secret?"

"I work for Manticore, Mr. Smart-ass. It's my job."

"Okay," Ames leaned forward. "What would you say if I told you I had my own army of genetically-enhanced super-soldiers? More than Manticore could ever create."

"I'd say 'What are you smoking, because I want some of that shit.'"

"I'm serious. I can give you ten extra super-soldiers to work with. And you don't even have to pay me or deal with all that government bullshit," said White, raising his eyebrows. "All I need you to do is go in there and kill every single transgenic you find. But the one in particular is this one." He placed a picture of Sam on the table. "Kill her, and _I_ will pay _you_."

Briggs looked at the picture closely. "X5-452. Blew up the Seattle facility. Leader of the transgenics. There's a big bounty on that pretty little head."

"You'll get the bounty, plus what I'm willing to give _you_. Just you. No taxes, no sharing it with government cockroaches. Just 1's and 0's, Colonel," said Ames with a confident grin. He drew a 1 with six 0s behind it on a piece of paper. "And all you have to do is kill an X5." He held out his hand.

Colonel Briggs stared at White for a long while, then shook his hand. "You've got yourself a deal. Now get me your soldiers."

"They'll be here within three days."

"Three days?!" shouted Briggs. "We don't have that much time."

"Don't worry. Three days won't hurt a bit."

Briggs looked unsure, but didn't push the subject further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max convinced everyone that the S1W only wanted to help and, soon, they had unloaded the hundreds of crates of food and ammunition. The S1W had gone way out of their league by transporting nine X-series into the city along with the supplies. They even left behind a black hawk, two little birds, and three apaches—each equipped with missiles and machine guns.

"Thanks, Asha," said Max, giving the blonde woman another hug before she left.

"Didn't expect me, of all people, to do this, huh?"

"Nope."

Asha laughed and hopped onto a little bird. "That's okay. See you later, Max."

Max jogged over to shelter from the debris kicked up by the helicopters and watched with a smile on her face as they flew away. "Now that was a surprise."

"Guess there _are _some good-hearted Ordinaries out there after all," said Jondy, putting her hand on Max's shoulder. "Dix and Leg are supervising the supply storage. We've got to go; Lydecker wants to see us. It's the first day of training."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lydecker tossed a set of military fatigues to each of the Xs in-training—Max, Zack, Krit, Jondy, Zane, and Brin. Syl, after a lot of arguing and harsh words of reality, had been convinced to just watch the training. Alec was there to oversee Lydecker's behavior and demonstrate some of the more complicated things.

"Put these on. The S1Ws were smart—supplied us with military clothes. It'll be easier for you to learn in these outfits," said the colonel. The X5s didn't move. "What is this? Put those clothes on, now! Move!"

Reluctantly, the X5s began removing their civilian clothes right in the middle of their training warehouse in exchange for the gray t-shirts and camo pants. Max, who was standing in-between Zack and Jondy, couldn't help but notice the looks of embarrassment they gave each other. She glanced at Zack and suddenly realized why. Zack's back was covered in fresh red scratch-marks that went all the way from his shoulders to his waist.

"Oh my," said Brin, laughing as Zack quickly pulled the t-shirt over his head. "I think someone's been a little busy lately."

Jondy and Zack turned bright red, but said nothing.

"That's enough," barked Lydecker, causing the X5s to reflexively snap to attention. "Now, I want you all to concentrate. We don't have all the time in the world. The Centurion attack could come at any time. Realize this and use it to your advantage. Now, let's begin." He looked at Alec, who stepped forward and handed him an empty liquor bottle. "See this? It's made out of crystal. Nasty stuff cuts through skin like a knife." He threw the bottle onto the ground, causing it to shatter. "Now, 494, demonstrate."

Alec removed his shoes and, taking a deep breath, stepped onto the glass shards. He jumped up and down a few times, then slid himself back and forth. The other X5s cringed.

"Lift your feet," commanded Lydecker.

Alec did as he was told.

"See? Not a scratch," said the colonel, grabbing Alec's ankle and pulling it up a little farther so that the other X5s could see. "The skin on your feet is very, very tough. Tough enough, in fact, for you to walk on hydrochloric acid and feel nothing. You wouldn't have noticed this because I would guess none of you have ever walked barefoot on acid before."

"Why would we need this if we had our boots?" asked Zane.

Lydecker whirled around and pointed at Zane angrily. "That's it! That's exactly what you _cannot_ do at this time! We are in war here, 205, and I am your colonel; your superior. You do not speak without my permission. Do you understand me??

"Sir, yes, Sir!" yelled Zane, though his eyes gave away his reluctance at saying this.

"Good. But your question was sensible, and the answer is that boots cannot withstand certain acids. They melt and leave rubber prints behind. This is unacceptable. So you remove your boots and leave no trace of your presence behind. Are we clear on that?"

It took about half a second, but the X5s in training finally accepted that they were now under Lydecker's command again and their answer echoed through the warehouse loud and clear.

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, so you're on the ground with a foot, an arm, and elbow—_something_ pressed into your neck. They tell you to give up. Do you? This situation is hopeless, right? You've been beaten, right? Wrong," Lydecker declared. "471 and 494, please demonstrate."

Alec lay on the floor and Krit placed his foot right on Alec's Adam's apple, holding him down.

"See, if 494 tries to get up he'll choke himself to death. If he uses his arms then 471 will break his neck. But there's something he can do to remove 471 in one swift, generally surprising movement. 494… please demonstrate."

Shooting Krit an apologetic look, Alec folded himself up like an open book being shut, his feet almost able to touch his face, and kicked Krit in the back of the knees, causing his legs to buckle and his entire body to come crashing down.

"Now, you're probably thinking 'what was so special about that?'" said Lydecker, nodding his approval to Alec. "But I want you to try it. It's not as easy as it looks."

So they paired off and got down on the floor, attempting to do what Alec had just done. Attempt was the key word there. None of them could get their feet far back enough to kick their adversary in the back of the knees.

"Alright, that's enough." Lydecker chuckled at their frustrated faces. "The definition of insanity, people, is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. You all are, by definition, insane. Now, watch again." He looked at Alec, who had resumed his position on the floor.

Alec folded himself up again, this time touching his toes to his forehead. "The trick is the extra vertebrae at the bottom of your spine. If you know how to do it, you can actually unhinge this bone and the three above it without causing yourself pain. X5s have extra muscles in their backs that will do this for you. Concentrate on the muscles of your back and you should be able to find the correct combination of muscle contractions," he explained.

"Try again," ordered Lydecker.

So, again, the X5s got down on the floor to practice this new 'power' they had discovered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes, four sore backs, and several angry comments later, they had all gotten the back trick down to an art.

Lydecker seemed amused with their struggle, but continued the training without commenting on it. "Alright, third lesson. This one involves more mind power than super power. 494 can't demonstrate this, but it will require you to spar with each other." He began pacing back and forth in front of the line of X5s. "When you're fighting someone, hand-to-hand or with guns three hundred yards away, the only way you can tell what's coming is if you suddenly receive supernatural, mind-reading powers, right? Wrong.

"The X series are trained at age 15 in psychological warfare, a term not commonly used. When you fight someone, you must be aware of three things: 1) their eyes; where are they looking 2) the air around them; what direction is it shifting and 3) how they hold themselves; are they tilted in one direction. All these things are essential. 494, tell them why these things are important."

Alec stepped forward and began, "The mind works in simple ways. Usually, when you're thinking about something or someone, you look at that something or someone. Using this, when your opponent's eyes focus left, they are probably planning on attacking your right side. This, however, cannot be applied when the opponent's eyes to do not focus. It has been proven that people look certain directions when making up lies and when telling the truth. So, therefore, if your opponent is simply glancing in another direction… they're not necessarily gonna move that way.

"For the second one, it's all about breathing. If you concentrate, you can feel the air moving as they breathe. That's one of the things about Xs that earns them the right to be called genetically empowered. Thing is that when fighting, people will tilt their heads in the direction they're gonna move. If you can sense the way their breathing patterns are affecting the air waves, you can predict their next move.

"And on the subject of how they hold themselves, that can tell you what kind of fighting they specialize in. For instance, there is the boxing stance, the several different karate stances, and even a few wrestling stances. The way they attack is essential to the counter-attack. We were all taught mainly martial arts, so therefore our enemies can use counter-attacks to block all martial art attacks. Understand?"

The X5s nodded, a bit taken back by this claim to power and Alec's knowledge of it.

"I didn't hear your response, soldiers!" shouted Lydecker.

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jondy blocked Max's fist and shoved her back, kicking her across the face. Max dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way to avoid getting kicked again, jumping to her feet. She ducked a reckless punch and tackled Jondy around the waist, knocking them both to the floor. They slid a few feet then began to wrestle, rolling across the floor as they did. Max managed to pin Jondy down by putting both knees on her elbows (which Jondy soon learned was quite painful) and sitting on her chest.

"Give?" panted Max.

Jondy used the back trick and kicked Max off of her, then rolled to her feet. She allowed Max to stand and they began circling each other warily.

Max put all the aspects of her new training together and stared into Jondy's eyes, watched the way she held herself, and concentrated on the air around her. Jondy's pupils were concentrated on her left shoulder blade. She held herself in a strong stance, as if ready to charge. Her head was tilted to the right. Jondy seemed to be doing the same thing, and they ended up circling each other for a small eternity before one of them finally made a move.

"Yaaah!" shouted Jondy, running forward so quickly that she was merely a blur heading towards Max.

Max, at the last moment, ducked and thrust her foot out, dodging Jondy's fist and tripping her sister. Jondy slid across the floor and into the wall, where she lay still.

"Jon? Jondy!" cried Max, running over to see if she was seriously hurt. She turned her sister over to find that Jondy was laughing so hard her face was turning red.

"That was… sooo… good, Max," panted the older X5, her feet kicking up and down as she laughed. "That was almost as good as sex…"

Max smiled and helped her sister to her feet. "Nice moves."

Jondy nodded and stumbled over to Zack, who had been watching the entire thing since he had long since kicked Krit's ass. "Zack, baby, did you see that? That was great!"

Zack grinned and hugged her. "Calm down, Jon, you're gonna hyperventilate." He helped her sit down to try and slow her breathing, and she eventually stopped laughing and caught her breath once again.

"Are you done, soldier?" asked Lydecker, looking down at Jondy disapprovingly.

Jondy nodded and got to her feet, holding back a smile.

"Get back in your lines, soldiers," ordered the colonel, and the X5s quickly complied. "I have one more thing to teach you for today, then you can leave. You're obviously not up to get back into harsh training." He looked at Alec, who was nearly asleep leaning against a wooden crate. "494," he barked, "come here."

Reluctantly, Alec pushed himself off the crate and came over.

Lydecker turned to the other X5s. "You've been shot. The enemy thinks you're dead, but they want to check for a pulse first. You can't just sit there and wait for them to find out you're alive. What do you do? 494, show them."

Alec sighed and lay back down on the floor. He closed his eyes and, for the most part, didn't appear to be doing anything.

"Now, 210, check for his pulse. See if he's breathing."

Jondy knelt next to Alec and felt his neck. After a minute, she shook her head and moved her fingers a bit. A shocked look appeared on her face. "He… he's got no pulse!" She waved her hand over his mouth. "He's not breathing!"

Lydecker grinned. "This is one of the most complicated X5 tricks in the book. Slow your heart down so that you can't even detect a pulse and stop breathing completely. You can wake up now, 494."

Alec opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Now, you try."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took four hours for them to nail the pulse trick. Zack was the first to master it, then Krit, then Brin, then Zane, then Max, and finally Jondy. Lydecker let them get back to their lives as soon as he was sure they knew how to perform this trick at a moment's notice, and they were glad to leave.

Alec and Max came up the stairs in their apartment building when they saw Pick standing outside their apartment door, gently tapping on it. They froze, turned around, and went back down the stairs. Pick and Eddie needed a little privacy.

Eddie opened the door a bit and, when she saw who was standing there, slammed it shut again.

Pick sighed and leaned his head against the door. "Aw, come on, baby. Just hear me out."

"I can hear you," said the voice from inside, though the words were clipped and slow. "So talk."

"Please, just open the door. I wanna see your face."

"You gonna hit me again?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"That was really, really lame. What, did you get that from a soap opera?"

"Just open the door."

There was a long, long silence, then the door slowly opened and Eddie moved from the doorway to the couch, where she plopped down with her back to him.

"Are you… are you okay? Heard you had a seizure," Pick said, closing the door.

"The government is full of corrupt assholes forcing communism on the American people while calling it democracy, we're sitting ducks in a city surrounded by hundreds of thousands of angry Ordinaries out for our blood, and I have only just rediscovered by ability to speak. No, Pick, I'm not okay all," she snapped. "But I'm guessing that you're just hunky dory, huh?"

Pick looked down at the floor guiltily. "Look, Eddie, last night I was torn up. I didn't know what to do. Everyone was crying and saying how we're gonna strike back and everything… and, for the first time in my life, I was scared. There's something out there that can kill or wound over fifty transgenics before being taken down. I was scared shitless and my instincts must've been acting up or something 'cause I had all this pent-up aggression. When you called me a jerk and all that, I just snapped. Did I hurt you?"

"You could've killed me," said Eddie, turning around and pointing to the bandage on her temple. "Then, I had a Grand Mal seizure and you didn't even want to know if I was okay? I wasn't able to speak for twelve hours. Yeah, that sounds like a real accident, Pick." She turned back around.

"Name one thing I could do to get your forgiveness." Pick placed his hands lightly on her shoulders.

Eddie refused to look at him, but didn't shrug off his hands. "I don't know. I mean, it's not the fact that you hit me so much as it's the fact that you had no reason to hit me that makes me angry. You know that if you had just quietly told me that you wanted to be left alone I would've left. But instead you yelled and screamed and threw punches. That's what scares me. I don't want to live my life with someone who's gonna hurt me—emotionally or physically."

"Is that what you think? That I'll do it again?"

"Yes, that's what I think."

Pick stood there, a little taken back, for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke again, "I would sooner kill myself than ever, ever hurt you again. I love you, and that's how it's always gonna be."

Eddie didn't reply, but her shoulders were shaking.

At first, Pick thought maybe she was having another seizure, but then he realized that she was sobbing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, pawing at her eyes. "I'll be fine."

Pick kissed the top of her head and, when she didn't flinch or pull away, moved his lips down to kiss her neck. "Forgive me yet?"

Eddie turned around and placed her hands on his arms. "Maybe." She tilted her head and touched his face. "You still haven't kissed me. To make this a proper Kodak moment, you have to seal it with a long, passionate, Soap Opera-worthy kiss."

"I do, huh?"

"Yep. We've stood here pouring out hearts out like an episode of a really bad Soap and now you are going to kiss me or I'm going to strangle you." She smiled sweetly and over-dramatically batted her eyelashes.

"Sounds good to me," Pick replied, then kissed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alec, are you listening to them?!" shouted Max, jumping onto Alec's back and hitting him on the head.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's not my fault!" he yelled as he fell to the ground.

"Thanks for breaking my fall," Max said, sitting on his back.

"You're evil."

"You were the one eavesdropping on Eddie and Pick."

"What's the point of having enhanced hearing if you can't use it?" he pointed out, reaching back and grabbing her legs. "You better get off or I'll tickle you."

"Don't you dare," growled Max, quickly jumping up.

Alec brushed himself off as he stood. "On second thought… how about I tickle you anyway?" He jumped forward and grabbed Max around the waist knocking them both to the ground again. He pinned her down. "Say uncle and I'll let you go."

Max struggled. "Never!!"

"Alright, but you brought this upon yourself." Alec pulled her wrists above her head with one hand and mercilessly ran his free hand's fingers up and down her sides. "Give up?"

"Stop! Stop, Alec!! Aaaah!" shouted Max, laughing uncontrollably. "No tickling! I hate tickling!"

"Say uncle!"

"NO!!"

"Say it!!"

"UNCLE!"

Alec let go of Max's hands and tapped her on the face. "Good girl."

Max kicked him in the back, causing him to fly forward over her head. "Bad! Bad, bad Alec!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie pulled back (though she couldn't go very far since Pick's hand was holding her head in place) from the kiss and stroked Pick's face with her thumb. "You need to shave."

Pick felt his upper lip. "It's not that bad."

"I think I got carpet burn on my lip," she said.

"Ha, ha, funny," growled Pick. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "That's it, you're coming with me. I'm afraid we're going to have to take care of this stubble problem in a more private area."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ames White finished negotiations with Colonel Briggs and exited the humvee. One of the kids, a tall one with blonde hair and blue eyes, watched him with suspicious eyes as he walked away.

"Damn transgenics," mumbled White. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the elder priestess' number.

_"Speak,"_ she said on the other side of the line.

"Feno's tol," said Ames. "I got a VIP ticket to victory, along with backstage passes."

_"Speak clearly, Ames,"_ said the priestess, irritated.

"Don't worry about a thing, priestess. I have it all under control. I will, however, be needing ten warriors to help me."

_"Of course. Whatever it takes to kill 452. She nearly took out the Phalynx."_

"Good. They'll be here in three days?"

_"Yes."_

"Alright. Feno's tol."

_"Feno's tol."_ Click.

Ames chuckled to himself as he closed his cell and looked at the still-chanting crowd. "Let's see you get yourself out of this one, _Max_."

TBC…


	8. Ames, Dames, and Video Games

Disclaimer: See Part 1 

A/N: I love you guys for reviewing. ^_^

Summary: After the second day of training, the X5s are beginning to believe that they _may_ have the upper hand in this war, but when reports of Ames White lurking around the perimeter come in, Max orders all able soldiers to be on red-alert. The fighting begins.

The Siege 

By

Brin 

"They used to say one nuclear bomb can ruin your whole day. It was sort of a joke, until the June morning those terrorist bozos whacked us with an electromagnetic pulse from 80 miles up. You always hear people yapping on how it was all different before the pulse. Land of milk and honey blah, blah, blah, blah with plenty of food and jobs and things actually worked. I was too young to remember, so, whatever... The thing I don't get is why they call it a depression. I mean, everybody's broke...but they aren't really all that depressed. Life goes on." –Max****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 8: Ames, Dames, and Video Games 

"Check."

"Checkmate."

"What?!"

"That means you can't move your king to safety."

"No shit. I hate this game!" Alec sat back in his chair and began to pout.

Max laughed. "I am the queen, I am the queen. Pay your dues!" she said, snapping her fingers at the transgenics who had bet against her. She held out a weathered old baseball cap and they deposited their bottle caps.

Alec hung his head as the others yelled at him for losing. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Yeah, now get outta here. It's bedtime," said Max, pointing towards the apartment door.

Grumbling about losing their money and sending Alec a few angry looks, the other transgenics filed out.

As soon as they were gone, Max gave Alec a high-five. "Good job. In terms of transgenic currency, we made like two hundred bucks," he said, hugging her.

"That was sleazy, unfair, and… fun!" exclaimed Max, dumping the bottle caps onto the table. "We could probably buy a _working_ TV with this."

"Oh, I would be in heaven if that was so," said Alec, thinking about having their own private television. The only other ones were public and always set on the news.

Max gave him a mock hurt look. "Ouch. I'm less heavenly than a television? Puts me down there with the toaster ovens and gas grills."

Alec shook his head. "No, I'd say you're on the same level as the television…"

Max hit him on the head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alpha 748, come here," said Colonel Briggs.

A tall young man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes marched over and saluted the colonel.

"You do understand the situation here, right?" asked Briggs, placing a hand on the Centurion's shoulder.

"Yes, Sir."

"There are thirteen of you. 875 never returned. We don't know if he's dead or alive, but we do have a tape of his last moments. You will watch the tape and remember every face that comes into view. When you find this face," he held up a picture of Sam, "you will study her—anything you can learn. Her fighting style, the people around her, anything. And when you go inside to terminate the transgenic problem, killing her is your highest priority. Understand?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good." Briggs handed him the tape. "There is a police van next to the barricades in which you will be able to watch this. Go."

Alpha 748 saluted him, then turned and marched off.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Max called a meeting of the city's leaders, her X5 brothers and sisters, Lydecker, Eddie and Pick, and Dix and Leg.

"Alright, Mole managed to map out the entire city and perimeter for us. He marked where the police are located and the weak spots in the fence. The debris isn't mapped, but he and a few worker-drone transhumans are clearing the streets around the clock," Max explained, waving her hand over a few spots on the map. "We need to set up strategic barricades that we'll use for cover while under attack. Dix and Leg, you guys are in charge of that. If you need help with the locations of the barricades, ask me and I'll give you an advisor.

"I also want barracks set up. We can't have the majority of our available soldiers sleeping in the most vulnerable building in the entire city. So far, Dix and Leg have recovered lots of tools, nails, screws, that kind of stuff. We do, however, have a shortage of usable wood, so when we choose buildings for barracks we have to pick the buildings with the least amount of damage. Baba, you're in charge of that.

"Styx, I need you to be in charge of creating a safe zone for the less-able soldiers—kids, pregnant females, the wounded. This is extremely important. And by kids, I mean anyone under the age of eighteen who is not present here."

She glanced over at Eddie and inwardly sighed. She had a horrible feeling in her gut about Eddie being included in this group. She was just barely sixteen and in a very vulnerable health condition… but, knowing Eddie, it would do more bad than good to cut her out completely.

"Eddie and Pick, you two are in charge of keeping the X6s in shape. But remember, only the ones over 18. When the attack comes you guys will have full control over the X6s.

"Zack and Jondy, you're in charge of sentry watches and patterns. You're going to have to make it so that it'll take the enemy a very, very long time to figure out how to get past the sentries without just mowing them down," Max continued. "Brin and Zane, I need you two to regulate some kind of plan so that, if hell does break loose again, we won't have total and complete chaos, alright?

"Syl and Krit, I know you're gonna hate me for this, but you've got to work out how we're gonna protect the kids as a last resort. Alec and I were thinking about moving the black hawk to the middle of the safe zone and, if things get too bad you can get away like that. The black hawk is hard to see without its lights on, so you will be able to slip away without being noticed.

"The rest of us will be in charge of training. Everyone understand their orders?"

Unanimous nods.

"Alright. X5s and Lydecker, I think it's time for day two of training. The rest of you, get going!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hit me!"

Zack lunged at Alec, who jumped back out of harm's way. "Come on, Zack-boy. You haven't even gotten a punch! Hit me!" taunted Alec.

Aggravated, Zack launched himself at Alec again, only to fall a foot or two short for the umpteenth time. He stood up and sighed in frustration. "Okay, I give. What's the secret?"

Alec stepped back as Lydecker moved forward to explain, "494 wasn't actually performing a trick. He was just demonstrating the hopelessness you can feel in a situation like this. The secret lies in the fact that one of the scientists who created you was a big video game fan."

The X5s looked at him blankly.

Lydecker continued, "Before the Pulse there was this highly-popular video game called Tekken. One of the mad scientists who made you had big dreams of seeing his characters come alive. Disturbing? Very. Helpful? Yes. You see, he gave you extra control over every skeletal muscle in your entire body. If you run and jump, you'll go pretty far. But if you run, jump, and duck at the same time, you'll go even farther. 494, demonstrate."

Alec walked over so that he had a lot of space in front of him and he would be running by the line of X5s. He took a deep breath and started running forward. After a few meters he jumped and flew a little bit farther than an Ordinary would. Then, he went back to his starting position. He ran a meter or two forward, squatted down, and launched himself forward in one swift movement.

The other X5s watched, amazed, as Alec flew at least seventy meters over their heads. He would've gone farther, but he ran out of room and had to grab onto a chain hanging from the ceiling in order to avoid smashing into the wall. He swung back and forth twice before jumping off and landing neatly on the ground in a kneeling position.

"And that," said Lydecker, who actually looked impressed with Alec's show, "is how you could avoid the situation that Zack was in." He ran his fingers through his graying hair nervously as Alec returned. "Good job, 494. That was spectacular."

"All in a day's work, Sir," replied Alec.

Lydecker nodded, and his eyes reflected a sort of fear that confused the other X5s, but they said nothing. "There are one or two more vital things I want to show you, then I'll let you go." He motioned Alec forward. "Okay, now pay attention. This is a worst-case-scenario survival trick."

Max shot Jondy a look, and Jondy replied with a shrug.

"494, if you'll remove your shirt," said Lydecker.

Alec winked at Max and obediently pulled off his gray t-shirt.

"Now, imagine this: you're the last hope of your unit. You're going solo, trying to retrieve the key to achieving victory, when you run across a single enemy with a gun. You don't have a gun and, since we're talking Centurions here, the enemy will be quick enough to dodge you if you try to take the gun. So what do you do?" He pointed to Alec's collarbone. "Get shot in a place that's not fatal. You've been taught in pain tolerance and, if you perform this right, you'll be back in action pretty quickly. The key place that will throw an enemy off is here." He gestured to the general collarbone area. "You cannot get hit any lower than about a hand's length from the top of the shoulder. Anywhere above that and you'll be caused some intense pain, but it won't be fatal and since it's in the chest area, you can use the heart trick to make them think you've been killed. Are we clear?"

"Sir, permission to speak, Sir!" shouted Zack.

"Permission granted. You have a question?"

"Won't these tricks be useless since the Centurions are probably taught the same things?" he asked.

Lydecker grinned. "And that's the beautiful thing. The Centurions are not taught the same things as you. Their trainers are focused mainly on their soldiers working by sheer force. And though they are stronger and faster than you, they don't necessarily have the same assets, such as your tough feet. They don't have that. So, when it comes down to strategic tricks, you may have a bit of an upper hand."

This was extremely good news, and the X5s felt a small wave of hope wash over them.

"Last, but not least," continued the colonel, "is a mind trick. Generally, when you fight someone you're either taunting them or you're both silent, right? Yes. But X5s have an extra set of vocal chords that enable them to create sounds that you might not here everyday." He looked Brin up and down. "You, 734, I know that your chords are able to create the sound of a gunshot. Purse your lips together and, as loud as you can, yell a sound similar to 'pow.' You'll sound just like a handgun. Throws 'em off 99% of the time.

"599 and 205's chords are similar to that of a lion's. Make a rumbling sound at the back of your mouth and sort of… bark. It'll sound like a lion's roar. The sound is quite unnerving during the heat of battle." He moved on to Jondy and Syl. "You two were made to communicate with the so-called 'Manticore mermaids' on the field. If you make a really high-pitched squeal, it sounds like a dolphin, and if you click your tongue rapidly it gives off those ultrasound waves dolphins use to navigate in the dark. You'll be surprised; if you concentrate hard enough, you'll be able to use that just like a bat or dolphin.

"471 and 452…" Lydecker crossed his arms over his chest as he came to stand in front of them. "You two were made to communicate to each other in wilderness battle without giving it away to the enemy. So you were given a set of hawk vocal chords. You just make a high-pitched, back-of-the-mouth sound and it'll form words in your mind. I don't know how, but it does. This goes for the rest of you. You can communicate on the field using your extra sets of vocal chords, except for 734 of course."

"And how do you know this?" asked Zane, not bothering to address Lydecker in a military way.

"I wrote the training plan, 205, and I was there when they came up with the concept of the X5s. You kids have no idea how much of your lives you owe to me," said 'Deck. He sighed and nodded towards the door. "You can leave now."

The X5s retreated to Max's apartment, where Alec pulled out a bottle of liquor he had managed to snag from the supply room. He poured them all a glass (except Syl and Brin of course) and sat down on the couch next to Max.

"It's amazing how much we didn't know about ourselves," said Jondy, starting a conversation.

"Physically and emotionally," replied Max, smiling at her siblings, who really weren't siblings to each other anymore. Brin sat on the floor with her head resting on Zane's shoulder, one of his arms wrapped around her waste. Syl was snuggled up with Krit in the armchair. Jondy and Zack sat near the fire with their arms around each other. It was a mind-blowing thing to see.

"What really gets me is the back trick," commented Krit. "I mean, it takes some pretty messed-up genes to unhinge your bones like that."

"Yeah, and they never even taught us that in contortion class," said Zane. "Manticore had some pretty mean tricks up their sleeves when they cooked us up."

"It's funny… we aren't the strongest or the smartest, but apparently we're the best batch Manticore ever came up with considering our success stories," added Syl. "That's just ironic, if you ask me. We're the only ones to ever escape, we have all these 'special features,' and yet they kept saying 'oh, the new versions are better than the X5s.'"

"Manticore was just a bunch of loonies with lots of technology," said Alec. "I don't think they knew what they had gotten themselves into until the first fully-trained X5s started going out on missions. I bet they didn't even think about us having emotions for each other until you guys escaped."

"They also thought we didn't have the guts to come back and blow everything up," commented Max. "It was just a lot of power put into inexperienced hands. They were trying to play God."

"Yeah, well, they didn't have a problem with making our faces," added Zane with a wink. "We're a good-lucking bunch compared to some of the Ordinaries. Smart, too."

The others laughed.

Zack threw back his liquor and swallowed it with a slight wince. "Whoo… strong stuff. Hard to find."

Alec smiled proudly. "I once read a report on this brand of alcohol and it can cook an egg in like five minutes flat."

"Hmm… I do believe we're gonna have to get ourselves drunk on this stuff when it's all over," replied Zack. "I haven't had any good alcohol for years…"

Max looked at him suspiciously. "And just how old are you, Zack? I'm afraid you never _did _tell us back at Manticore, even though you were the best at keeping time without a clock. All we knew was that you were older than the rest of us."

Zack covered his face with his hands. "Now that's not a very polite question."

"You better tell us, Zack," said Zane, laughing. "Or we'll bother you forever."

"Twenty-five," mumbled Zack.

"What? I didn't quite hear that," teased Krit, putting a hand to his ear.

"Twenty-five," said Zack, louder this time.

Zane began to laugh, pointing a taunting finger at his blood brother. "I'm only twenty-three."

"Twenty-two for us," said Krit, also gesturing to Syl. "But she's older by a few months."

"I'm twenty-two, too," said Jondy.

"Twenty-one," piped in Brin.

"Twenty," Max said.

"Twenty-three," added Alec, grinning.

"You're officially the X5 senior citizen," said Zane, patting Zack on the back. 

Jondy kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "It's okay, baby. _I_ still love you." She stuck her tongue out at Zane.

"Alright, alright," interrupted Max, who had just gotten her laughter under control. "We've thoroughly loosened ourselves up with liquor strong enough to make an Ordinary's liver malfunction. If you don't mind me saying, I think we should get back to work."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One!"

"HYAH!"

"Two!"

"HYAH!"

"Three!"

"HYAH!"

Max stopped a few feet away from where Pick was standing. He was yelling out numbers like the trainers had done at Manticore. In front of him were all the X6s that were eighteen (none were older), which was only about seventy of them. There were one hundred fifty X6s in Terminal City, and most of them were sixteen or younger. Originally there were two hundred X6s—one hundred, then one hundred clones. Some of them hadn't made it to Terminal City and a lot of them were deceased. As Pick called out numbers they moved into a different stance like one big, well-oiled machine.

Pick noticed Max standing there out of the corner of his eye and shouted, "Pair up and spar one round. Then, you can go."

The X6s replied with an ear-splitting, "Sir, yes, Sir!" that Max was sure the Ordinaries at the perimeter had heard loud and clear.

Max shook her head and shook hands with Pick. "Why hello, Romeo, where's Juliet?"

Pick laughed. "Taking a catnap, pun intended. She hasn't gotten very much sleep lately."

"Yeah, I can relate," replied Max. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. Since you seem to be doing well here, I'm gonna go see how the X5s are doing, okay?"

"Alright." Pick smiled as she walked away, then turned to examine his troops.

When Max reached the X5 training lot, she found Lydecker instructing the Xs on a few simple exercises. Alec was watching him with scrutinizing, tired eyes. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Sleepy?"

Alec leaned against her. "Just a little."

"Lydecker behaving himself?"

"Yeah."

"Go get some sleep. I'll watch him," she suggested, her hands kneading his tense shoulders.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Alec rose from the chair and kissed her on the cheek, then trudged off.

Max sat in the chair and fixed her eyes on Lydecker, the man who had single-handedly ruined the first nineteen years of her life. He had killed her brothers and sisters, chased her around the countryside, and nearly sent her back to Manticore on more than one occasion. He had let Brin be re-indoctrinated, and had left Max's body in the Manticore woods without a second thought.

Yet here he was, allegedly trying to help the transgenics in a war against his kind. It was hard to believe, but his training _had_ helped. A lot. If the Centurions weren't aware of what the X5s could do then maybe… maybe the attack wouldn't be so catastrophic.

"Excuse, me Max?"

Max looked up at a young X5 who appeared to be about eighteen years old and replied, "Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Talon. It's an honor to meet you, Ma'am," stammered the young man, fidgeting nervously.

"An honor? You must have the wrong X5, Talon," said Max, smiling at him.

He licked his lips a few times and ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. "I, um, was instructed by Colonel Lydecker to show you and X5-471 how to communicate using your hawk chords. 599, 205, 701, and 210 are also being given lessons on communication. I, uh, I can't believe I'm actually talking to you, um…" The last part was said incredibly quickly and very, very quietly.

Max touched his face to get him to look at her and chuckled. "Calm down. I'm not going to bite your head off, contrary to popular belief."

Talon laughed nervously.

"Now, I'll find my brother and you can show us how to communicate. Okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Call me Max."

"Yes, Max."

"Good. I'll be right back," Max said, sauntering off. She soon found Krit gathered around a television with a few other transgenics. The president of the hellhole known as America was on the screen, giving a speech.

_"…and I, President Jefferson Ronalds, proclaim that the transgenic situation is Seattle, Washington, will be taken care of by a team of trained specialists within five days' time. The transgenics are not American citizens, nor are they even human. I will not allow them to soil American ground with their presence. They will be captured and sent to highly-guarded facilities where they will stay, unable to harm the American people. Long live America!"_ said the president, receiving a warm applause and cheers of support.

"That bastard," exclaimed Krit under his breath. He turned around and looked a little startled to see Max standing there. "Hey, Max."

Max shook her head. "I can't believe I voted for that guy." She looked up at her brother. "I bet it wouldn't be as bad if we could somehow contact the higher rings of government."

Krit looked over her shoulder at the little bird helicopter sitting underneath a tarp. A light bulb went on in his head. "Max, I have an idea."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For awhile after that, things played out like a film without sound as Krit readied himself to fly to Washington to negotiate with the inner circle of the government. He and Syl shared a tender moment before he left, kissing and speaking in hushed tones about the baby and how everything would be alright. Styx, Baba, and three other X5s accompanied him, since Baba was the only one who could fly the chopper. They removed the weapons from the little bird so that their approach wouldn't seem too threatening. For a worst-case scenario, they had parachutes next to the doors.

Max watched as the little bird rose into the air and flew over the top of the buildings, quickly disappearing from sight. She instructed Brin to try and cheer Syl up, then left the guarding of Lydecker up to an X7 as Talon showed her how to communicate using hawk sounds, even though Krit was gone.

Hours passed before Max finally learned all she needed to know about her extra vocal chords. Talon was specifically trained to communicate with other X5s on the field, and he was very helpful once he got over his shyness. Afterwards, Max returned to the apartment to find Alec pulling on his jacket and heading towards the door with a worried look on his face.

"Alec?" she asked, setting down a bag of rations. "Alec, what's wrong?"

Alec jumped in surprise and took a calming breath. "Max, I sent an X7 to go check out the situation at the main side of the perimeter. He saw White there, along with thirteen Centurions. White was talking to a man we assume to be the leader of the Centurions… White was dressed in a combat uniform and there were ten people standing behind him, also in combat uniform. Loaded guns, RPG launchers, SWAT shields, the works. Max, they're coming."

The impact of his words had no effect where they were unheard, however, and down at Tolerance Hall, where hundreds of unsuspecting transgenics were laying around with nothing to do, life went on as it usually did. They had no idea what was coming.

"Hey, Eddie, come here," said Dix, flagging the anomaly down.

Eddie wandered over to where Dix was busying himself working on a skateboard. "Yeah?"

"Watch this." The transhuman pressed a button and the skateboard rose a few feet and hovered there.

Eddie's jaw dropped. "No way."

"I took the engine from an electric scooter and some random motorcycle parts and put this together. You want it?"

"Hell yeah!" Eddie grabbed the skateboard from the air and turned it off. "That's wicked."

Dix opened his mouth to reply, but then everything stopped as Joshua burst onto the scene, yelling, "Red alert! Everyone, red alert! Weapons ready! Red alert!"

There was a loud uproar as transgenics bolted to their feet in alarm.

"White is coming! Max says get to posts!" barked Joshua, running through the building wildly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max donned a combat uniform taken from the Phalynx and picked up a machine gun from the supply pile. Transgenics were running around gathering guns and getting to their posts, though some looked like chickens running around with their heads cut of. The ones not approved for battle were being ushered to the middle of the city and pilots were being located for the choppers.

She walked up to Zack, who was without armor but wearing military fatigues, and handed him some rounds. He stuck them in his pocket and nodded.

Jondy, Brin, Zane, and Alec approached, all of them dressed in the combat uniforms. They huddled together and Max issued instructions, "We split into groups of two. Each group takes a command of at least thirty other soldiers, but no more than fifty. I want one group at every perimeter corner. Dix and Leg have put together communication systems." She handed them each an earpiece and a small mic to be clipped onto their helmets. "Use these wisely; whatever you say might be picked up by the wrong people. Everyone understand?"

The other X5s nodded.

"Good. Move out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White, extremely pleased that the extra Familiars had arrived earlier than planned, adjusted his helmet and looked at Colonel Briggs. "We'll be out of there in an hour."

"You better be. And if you get my soldiers killed I'll have your ass," replied Briggs with a threatening glare. "They're worth a lot more than your entire sorry ass."

Ames smirked. "Don't worry, Colonel. The only ones who are gonna die are the ones inside Terminal City right now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must address my troops." He walked over to the group of ten Familiars dressed ready for combat. "Okay, here's the deal. Killing 452 is our main priority. After that, we'll torch the place. That oughtta flush them out. And while they run, we'll be shooting them down like game. Got it?"

"Yeah," replied the other Familiars.

White motioned to Briggs, who instructed his Centurions, "Alright, this guy is in charge when you get in there. I don't trust him, so if he tries anything funny Centurion Alpha will take over. Understand?"

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

Briggs nodded to White, who grinned.

"Here we go," said White. The Centurions and Familiars gathered behind him. "It's simple. Split up and kill anything you see. Understand?"

Nods.

"Okay, move!"

They dispersed and White turned to look at the deceivingly motionless Terminal City. "Time to die, 452," he whispered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minutes ticked by slowly like hours. The transgenics knew that the enemy was on the move; coming to kill them all, but deep down inside they kept hoping it wasn't true. That this was just a false alarm. No one wanted to face the fact that on this night, they could all die. Genocide was the word on everyone's tongues. Would they be wiped out?

Zack nervously looked at Jondy, who sat with her back to him, gun pointed in the other direction so that no one could sneak up on them. "Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied.

Zack motioned to one of the X5s in the unit of twenty they were commanding. The X5 shook his head and shrugged.

"Max, Sector 4A is clear."

"Keep watch," replied Max into her mic. The tension in the air was so thick she could hardly breathe. Reports had come in that White and the Centurions had disappeared from outside the perimeter, which meant they were inside.

Which meant Max had no clue where they were.

And that was not a good thing.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Max heard Brin's voice come through the earpiece, "Max, we've spotted the enemy in Sector 2B. They've split completely and they're headed in all directions. I repeat, the enemy is _on the move_. Max, can you hear—"

Brin's voice cut off there, and Max grew alarmed. "Brin? Brin?! Zane, where's Brin?" She listened for a moment and heard fighting and a distinct lion's roar. Then, silence. She looked at Alec and said into her mic, "Attention all units. We've moving out. Something's happened to Brin and Zane, which means an enemy is in Sector 2B. I want someone down there to check out the situation. All units on alert, the enemy _has_ made the first move."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane was watching Brin report to Max when, suddenly, there was someone behind her. Thick, tree trunk-sized arms wrapped around her neck, pulling off her helmet, and she was thrown high into the air.

He quickly pointed his gun and fired, but in a flash the enemy was behind him, knocking the gun from his hand. He turned and was promptly punched in the face. The ground came into contact with his face with enough force to shatter an Ordinary's skull, but it left him with only a headache and caused his mic to snap off. He jumped onto his feet with a rumbling roar that left his foe momentarily stunned. This was what Zane needed. He kicked the Centurion in the face, then yelled "FIRE!"

The unit of Xs shot at the staggering Centurion, who took five bullets, then ran forward and knocked the gun from the hand of an X5. He pulled a handgun from his uniform and placed it at the X5s temple. "Anyone moves and he's dead."

Zane looked at his unit, who had their guns trained on the Centurion's forehead, and licked his lips nervously, wincing as he tasted blood there. "Weapons down!"

The unit of X5s slowly lowered their guns.

As they did this, the Centurion let out a high-pitched whistle. Before any of the X5s could react, another Centurion jumped from the roof above them and started slaughtering them one by one.

Zane quickly grabbed his gun and shot the rampaging Centurion in the back. She took at least twenty bullets before falling to the ground in a growing puddle of blood. However, he wasn't quick enough to save the X5 in the grips of the male Centurion, who was dead by the time the female Centurion hit the ground. The male was nowhere to be found, but a blood trail was heading off in a southerly direction.

Ten of the original thirty X5s lay dead on the ground, and Brin wasn't looking too good; a crumpled heap of bones lying in an awkward position in a puddle of reddening rainwater. He picked his mic up from the ground and said, "This is X5-205 from Sector 2B, we've got ten dead and several wounded. Medical assistance is needed ASAP. We managed to kill one enemy soldier, but another got away and I have reason to believe he's heading towards sector 3A. Over."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Roger that," replied Max. She looked at Alec. "Alec, contact the medical team and send them down to Zane's position in Sector 2B."

Alec nodded and started speaking into his mic, which was connected with a different set of transgenics—the rescue and medical teams.

Max looked behind her at her and Alec's unit, then said into her mic, "Eddie, Pick, word has come in from Sector 2B that an enemy soldier is moving in your direction. Do you copy? Over." She waited a few seconds before repeating, "Pick, come in."

After a moment or two, she heard crackling, and some in-and-out speaking that she could barely understand.

"Famil—Centuir—dead—sen—SAP—woun—blood—copy—"

"Shit!" Max slammed her fist against her gun angrily. "Zack, Jondy, I need you to abandon your current position and head to Sector 3A with your unit. I'll send some of my units down to take care of your position."

"Roger that, Max," replied Jondy.

Max sighed and looked at Alec, who was listening to his earpiece with an alarmed look upon his face. "What?" she asked.

Alec waved his hand at her as a signal to be quiet and pressed the earpiece more snuggly into his ear. After a few moments, the color drained from his face and he turned to Max and said, "The black hawk and one of the apaches took off. White and the Centurions got past everyone. So far, thirty reported dead and seventy wounded. Brin and Zane and Eddie and Pick have been overtaken. Several medical teams are missing and the rescue squads have been taken as prisoners. Jondy and Zack are headed straight into an enemy perimeter. White is headed this way with ten people with him—we don't know if they're Familiars or Centurions. We've got to leave, Max!"

Max's heart dropped as she looked first at Alec, then at the X5s and one or two X6s in her unit. They were all staring at her, waiting for a response. The X6s looked absolutely terrified; unlike the X5s, they had never been used on the field and weren't used to this kind of warfare. Their eyes were wide and their faces sheet white, a stark contrast to their dark camouflage fatigues. Max licked her lips and quietly said, "All right, people. We're the last hope. The only ones who can prevent total genocide." She looked at each of them, her eyes grave. "Move out."

TBC…


	9. Endgame

Disclaimer: See Part 1 

Summary: Fierce fighting, a blazing fire, and one transgenic to stop it all.

A/N: The end is in sight, you guys… This is good; I've never actually finished a multiple-chapter story before. Yay me! And the hand signals used by Max and Alec are ACTUAL hand signals. I didn't make them up. Beginning lyrics from "Toxicity" by System of a Down.

The Siege 

by

Brin 

****

_Now, what do you own the world?_

_How do you own disorder, disorder_

_Now somewhere between the sacred silence_

_Sacred silence and sleep_

_Somewhere, between the sacred silence and sleep_

_disorder, disorder, disorder_

"Let's skip the Manticore handshake and cut to the chase. You and your playmates have been naughty little transgenics, not to mention stupid. Maybe I should just bend you over my knee." –Max

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 9: Endgame 

Jondy, Zack, and their unit slowly crept through Terminal City, Sector 3A. The road seemed clear ahead, but the air was deathly still. Nothing moved. Some of the transgenics were even afraid to breathe. This was like crawling right into the belly of the beast. They crept right into the heart of Sector 3A, and there they found what they were looking for—Eddie and Pick's unit.

"Oh shit," whispered Jondy, suddenly feeling a bit nauseous.

Strewn about were the bodies. Bloody, unidentifiable bodies. Some of them were displayed in contorted positions. And some of them…

"Get them down! Get them all down!" ordered Zack, his face green.

Jondy looked up at the five or so bodies hanging by their hands from the building fire escapes. She pulled off her helmet and ran her fingers through her disheveled hair, holding back the sobs of despair. After taking a moment to compose herself, she walked over to cut down a body. Before she did this, however, she followed the rope with her eyes. The rope was first tied to the fire escape, then it went all the way up and disappeared over the top of the building. That was strange…

"Wait," she said as Zack prepared to cut a body down. She paused a moment, then their situation hit her. "This is a trap! Grab your weapons and—"

"Everyone FREEZE! We've got you surrounded!" shouted another voice over Jondy's.

Jondy's face fell as the fire escapes suddenly collapsed in chosen locations, creating a cage around the transgenics. Ten figures dropped from inside the buildings and landed on top of the metal heaps, guns trained on the transgenics.

"Put down your weapons! Drop them, NOW!" yelled one of the Centurions. "No sudden movements!"

The transgenics were looking at Zack for instructions, and he nodded. "Do as he says." Their weapons dropped to the ground with a loud 'CLACK.'

"Get down on the floor! Hands on your heads!"

Slowly, carefully, the transgenics lowered to their knees and placed their hands on the backs of their heads. Two of the Centurions jumped down and gathered up their weapons. When they were sure the transgenics posed no threat, they nodded to their leader.

"Tie them up, then put them with the others," said Centurion Alpha. "Keep an eye on them. I want seven guards with automatics watching them. If they try anything funny…" He jumped down and tipped Jondy's face up so that she was looking at him. "Shoot them."

Jondy glared at him, but said nothing. He laughed and patted her on the cheek, then walked away to issue orders to three Centurions who had appeared out of nowhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max and Alec ran through a dark ally, guns ready. They then ducked behind piles of debris at the end of the ally, checking both ways for any sign of the enemy. When they were sure there were no surprises in store, Max turned and held out her arm horizontally, palm up, then motioned towards herself. _Come forward._

She and Alec kept watch as their unit hurried over. As they were coming, Alec raised his arm at a 45-degree angle from his side (above the horizontal position) and then, palm down, lowered his arm back down to his side. _Take cover._

The other transgenics quickly split up, hiding behind debris. One of the X5s got Max's attention and tapped the back of his head with his open palm. Max nodded and repeated the gesture. _Head count._

Briefly, everyone poked their heads up, and Max quickly counted them. Once she was sure everyone was there, she told them to get down again.

They watched the street for a few more minutes before Max and Alec decided to cross it. By doing this, they would be going out of their sector and moving into enemy-taken territory.

Max held up three fingers, then put one down, then another, and when she finally put the last one down they ran out into the open street. They were right in the middle when one of the others jumped out and yelled "RPG!"

Instinctively, Max and Alec hit the dirt. The rocket-powered grenade flew right through the spot they had been standing in, hitting a building and causing a huge explosion that skimmed their backs. Fiery debris rained down on the two transgenics as their unit jumped out and began shooting in the direction the grenade had come from, but whomever had shot it had moved.

"Help them!" urged an X6, running over to Max and Alec. The transgenics quickly removed the flaming debris from their leaders, whose uniforms were scorched, but not on fire.

Max coughed as the smoke and ash from the building filled her lungs. She and Alec were dragged back into the ally, presumably out of harm's way. As soon as they had caught their breaths, they took the command once again.

"Well, I'd say we're in enemy sights now," said Alec, throwing off his helmet.

"The one that shot at us has most likely reported to his leader. This hostile territory just got a bit hotter," replied Max. She looked around at their unit. "Okay, we're gonna have to split up into groups of five. Well, you will be in groups of five—Alec and I will be by ourselves. Everyone got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied.

At this point, Max went back to using hand signals—just in case. First, she cut her fingers across her neck. _Danger area._ Then, she held up a hand—five fingers—and pointed to the transgenics, breaking them up into groups of five. She then raised her arm vertically overhead, then brought her arm back down to a horizontal position and gave each group a direction to go. _Disperse. _The groups quickly exited, leaving Max and Alec by themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie, Pick, Jondy, Zack, Brin, and Zane were all brought into a dimly-lit room blindfolded. They were then chained to the wall and their blindfolds were removed. They looked at each other in confusion, then their eyes turned upon the young man sitting before them. He was tall, with sandy blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

"Welcome!" he said, his voice loud and clear.

The chained transgenics, however, didn't appreciate his obvious amusement at the situation.

"The six of you were identified as the leaders since you were the ones giving orders, if you're wondering," continued the Centurion with a smile. He studied each of them closely, then stopped when he reached Eddie. She had been beaten within an inch of her life and had a nasty bullet wound in her shoulder. Her face was so bloody, bruised, and swollen that she was barely recognizable. "X6-301… how nice to see you again. How have you been?"

Eddie, unable to lift her head for the pain wracking her entire body, did nothing.

"Answer me when I speak to you!" yelled the Centurion, grabbing Eddie by the hair and lifting her head for her.

"Leave her alone!" shouted Pick, jerking against his chains.

Centurion Alpha straightened up and turned to Pick. "Always a feisty one, 901. I remember you, too." He looked at the X5s, who looked utterly confused. "Of course, they never knew I was a Centurion. My facility needed to conduct an experiment regarding Centurion reproductive systems and I was the only one not taking birth control meds. The Manticore facility would offer us no one but 301." Here he stopped and looked at Pick pointedly. "We slept together for two nights at the Seattle facility, then I was forced to return to my base for a special field operation."

Pick cast Eddie a sidelong glance, but she was staring at the Centurion with fiery eyes.

"Of course, 301 failed to conceive and spent two or three months in psy-ops because of her utter hatred for me. Isn't that right?" asked the Centurion, touching Eddie's face.

She glared at him and managed to jerk her head aside, but the action caused intense pain that nearly made her black out.

Centurion Alpha stood to his full height. "I have strict orders to keep you all in here. It's only a matter of time before 452 is captured. This situation is utterly hopeless. Chimeras are no match for Centurions."

"Is that the shit they feed you?" asked Zack irritably.

The Centurion turned to look at him, smiling. "Aaah, I read about you in mission logs. X5-599, the cream of the crop." At the surprised look on Zack's face, Centurion Alpha laughed. "I have studied all the '09 escapees. You'd be surprised how much I know."

"Why are you doing this? Can't you see what we're doing?" said Pick. "We're making a stand for our kind. You think that just because you still work for Manticore you're some kind of war hero? People hate you. They don't care you've helped capture us. You're still one of us, and they hate you for it."

"I don't care what 'the people' think, you blundering idiot," said Centurion Alpha. "I am a soldier. I serve our country."

"A country that hates you!" spat Jondy. "What do you think Manticore is going to do when you get old and wrinkled? Or if you contract some kind of unstoppable illness, like cancer? You think they're going to treat and comfort you for all the good work you've done for them? Let me tell you what they'll do." She leaned forward. "First, they put you in a small area and cut off your air supply until you die… just to see your maximum lung capabilities. Then, they cut you open and perform an autopsy. And when they're done, they toss you into the incinerator with last week's mystery meat special."

Centurion Alpha narrowed his eyes at her, disbelieving. "That'll never happen."

"You think it won't?" said Pick, narrowing his eyes. "I saw it happen to one of my sisters. She was cut open; studied. Right before my eyes."

"It doesn't matter if one soldier falls. There will always be ten more behind him," said the Centurion, building up his resolve. "And your words won't phase me."

"Really? Then why do I see fear behind your eyes?" asked Zane, pinning Centurion Alpha with a intense gaze. "Look at what you've done to your fellow transgenics—look at how many you've killed. That's not a mission, that's a war, and there's no winner in a war. Your people will die, too. How do you feel about that?"

"I told you already. It doesn't matter."

Zack laughed at the Centurion. "You really think so? Don't you feel anything for your fellow soldiers? The one's you've grown up with; your only comfort in life? Your brothers and sisters?"

"Well you're the one killing them so I don't know how you can possibly preach to me," said the young Centurion angrily, his voice nearly faltering.

"Aha! See, you do care!" exclaimed Pick triumphantly. "Think about them… out there, dying on the streets. Cold. Alone. In pain. Doesn't that hurt inside? Strike anger in you, perhaps?"

The Centurion said nothing.

"That's what I thought," concluded the X6. He glanced over at his girlfriend. "You see that? Do you see what they did to her? That tears my soul apart, right there. And you… you slept with her. God forbid, don't you feel anything for her? I've never slept with her and damn… I would die for her in a heartbeat."

"I was ordered to do so. I have no emotional attachment to the anomaly," said Centurion Alpha, lacing his hand behind his back.

"I believe you do," said Pick. "I believe you have emotional attachments to all the Centurions in your unit, and Eddie. In fact, I bet you imagine a father-son relationship with your commander. Isn't that right?"

"Shut up."

"Why aren't you answering me?"

"I said SHUT UP."

"It's true, isn't it?"

"SHUT UP!" Centurion Alpha ran forward and kicked Pick across the face, busting his lip. "_You_ are in no position to be so bold!"

Pick coughed as blood filled his mouth and smiled. "See? I'm driving you mad, aren't I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max and Alec found the remnants of the attack on Eddie and Pick's unit of X6s, but they couldn't find Eddie or Pick anywhere. They had the distinct idea that they were being watched, and more than once they had heard far-off explosions that made their stomachs churn with fear for their comrades. They first removed the bodies from underneath the collapsed fire escapes and placed them in safe places. Then, they moved all the other bodies into similar hiding spots. When they were done, Max's face was tearstained and she felt her last meal quickly rising north.

Alec put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, Maxie," he whispered.

"We should get going," said Max, moving out of his embrace. She studied their choice of directions and decided the best way to go was… up. "This attack came from above. You can tell by the angle the bullets hit. Also, the RPG came from above. So I'm guessing they've established a base on the rooftops."

Alec nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick worriedly stared at his girlfriend as she was overcome by an intense coughing fit. She had been coughing lightly a few minutes earlier, but it got very bad very quickly. Sometimes she even spluttered blood. The deep red liquid was dripping down her chin.

"Can't you see she's dying?" yelled Pick frantically. "Do something!"

"I don't have clearance to do anything," replied Centurion Alpha.

"Well then _get_ clearance!" barked the X6 angrily. "She's probably worth more to you alive than dead!"

The Centurion was about to say something snide in return, but instead picked up a walkie-talkie and said, "Sir, I have a dying transgenic leader and I am requesting permission to administer medical help."

"Clearance granted, Centurion Alpha," was the response.

"See? That wasn't too hard," growled Pick.

Centurion Alpha said nothing as he pulled a first-aid kit and a canister from a pack sitting on the ground. He then unchained Eddie and gingerly lay her on the table next to the electric lamp.

Jondy and Zack exchanged looks as they watched the Centurion do this. As soon as he had touched Eddie his entire demeanor had changed; from wild and cold to gentle and calm. There was definitely more to the story of the anomaly and Centurion than was being told.

"X6-301 has a broken femur, broken ribs, a shattered clavicle, and she may have a concussion. Other than that, it's a whole lot of bumps and bruises," the Centurion said quietly as he poked and prodded Eddie. "And if you want to know how I can tell, her femur has broken through the skin, her ribs are misshapen, the bullet went right through her shoulder, shattering the bone, and there are some head wounds that need surveillance. There's a chance she could have a concussion."

"Brin needs some help, too," piped in Zane, jerking his head towards a pale Brin.

Centurion Alpha turned to the X5 with a savage look on his face, his blue eyes dark with barely-controlled anger. "Just a second!" he barked, his voice becoming deep and imposing.

"Whoa, chill out," replied Zane, leaning back.

"It would be more productive if you let us help you," suggested Jondy, disregarding their captor's show of rage.

"And escape in the process? I don't think so."

"Look, we all know you've got two guys out there with loaded guns just waiting for us to try something funny. And if we leave, you'll only kill the others. We're not going anywhere," reasoned Jondy.

"You know this scenario all too well," said the Centurion with a wry grin. "I will unchain you from the walls but you will remain in your cuffs. Understood? Anything funny and all the others die."

"Agreed," said Zack. "By the way, do you have a name? I don't think calling you 'crazy-ass hormonal teenager' will be popular very long."

"My alias is Brock," said the Centurion quietly as he unchained them.

Pick was about to say something when Eddie began coughing again. He and 'Brock' hurried over, worry written all over their faces.

"The bullet must've punctured a lung," said Pick with a gulp. "She'll die if we don't get her to a hospital." He looked at the Centurion pointedly. "Please, let us go."

"It's not my choice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"RPG!"

Max and Alec dropped to the ground as two grenades flew towards them. The RPGs hit each other mid-flight and exploded right above the two X5's heads. If Max and Alec hadn't been wearing their uniforms, they surely would've been burnt to a crisp. As it was, the only exposed skin—the backs of their necks—were red and blistering from the heat. Their barcodes had been burnt off.

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit! That was too close!" yelled Max angrily as they got to their feet again.

Alec looked up towards where the grenades had come from and his eyes widened. "Here they come again! Jump!" 

The two jumped high into the air like only X5s could as the RPGs exploded into the ground they had just been standing in. The blast knocked them higher into the air and a little bit to the side, causing them to crash into the wall of a nearby building.

"Hey, you said you wanted to go up, right?" joked Alec despite their situation. "Look at is as a convenient shortcut!"

"Alec, you better shut up and climb before they decide to blow us up into a million little pieces," urged Max as she began to climb towards the roof, which was only ten or so feet above them.

"Good idea," he replied, hurrying to catch up with her.

They were about two feet below the roof when they were aware of two things: 1) there were two Centurions/Familiars standing at the top of the roof and 2) an RPG was headed right for them.

Max looked at Alec, who nodded. As if able to read each other's mind, they simultaneously pulled themselves upward with all their might, causing their bodies to fly up in the air as the grenade crashed into the building and set it aflame. The Centurions/Familiars started shooting at them while they were in the air, but somehow the two X5s evaded getting shot even as they came crashing down on top of their enemies.

"Howdya like that one?" asked Alec, thumping his foot on the face of the unconscious Centurion/Familiar he had landed on.

"Take their clothes," instructed Max, rolling her eyes at Alec's amusement.

Alec did as he was told. "Now what?"

"Put it on!"

"Right. I knew that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're just going to let her die?" yelled Pick, gesturing to Eddie.

Brock frowned. "Look, I can't let any of you leave. Colonel's orders."

"Fuck the colonel's orders!"

Jondy put a hand on Pick's shoulder. "Calm down. You're more worth to Eddie with a clear mind."

Pick shrugged off her hand and stepped away from the Centurion. "If she dies, I swear I'll kill you all. You know I'll do it, or die trying."

"That can be arranged," Brock replied shortly, moving forward.

Zack stepped in-between the two and kept them separated. "Stop it."

"I'm your captor. I don't have to do anything you say," said the Centurion, shoving Zack. "I never should've unchained you."

"You won't kill us. We're worth too much. Isn't that right?" reasoned Zack. "Each one of us is worth millions, and you know it."

"Dead or alive!" responded Brock.

"Look, can we just get over this?" yelled Jondy. "She's getting worse."

Indeed she was getting worse. She was laying on her side and blood was beginning to pool next to her mouth as she was overcome with violent coughs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max and Alec tied the two Centurions/Familiars up and gagged them before jumping to the next building. They had gone about two blocks when White and three others suddenly jumped up from between two of the buildings, cutting them off.

"Well, well, well… imagine seeing you here, 452," said Ames White, making a show of the large gun in his hands. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to go any farther."

"And I'm afraid I'm gonna have to kick your tight ass and be on my merry way," snapped Max.

"I don't think so," said White, snapping his fingers.

His three companions sped forward and knocked the guns from Alec and Max's hands. Alec quickly jumped into the air and did a roundhouse kick, momentarily knocking their assailants backwards.

"I'll take care of these guys. You get White," he said.

"Got it," replied Max, running past the three and knocking their guns away as she did so.

"Looks like it's just you and me," declared White.

"Bite me." She fell to her knees as he shot at her, the bullets flying over her head as she thrust herself forward, still low to the ground, and knocked Ames off his feet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Blood pressure dropping," said Jondy. "No wait… it's going back up again."

Centurion Alpha gulped and took a step away from the table as Zack and Jondy tried to figure out how they could save Eddie from drowning to death on her own blood.

"We've got to get her to a hospital," announced Zack, his face grave. "Fast."

"Look, and I know what I'm asking here, just let us take her to the hospital? She's gonna die and… and you just can't let her die," begged Pick desperately. "She's all I got."

Brock stared at Eddie's pale face and didn't respond.

"Just think of one of your own being like this. Wouldn't you want to save them? Or did Manticore force you to not care about each other? Think about a sister of yours in this situation. Would you go against orders to save her?"

"One soldier is no big sacrifice."

"That's a nice motto. What if _you_ are that one soldier? You do know that Manticore won't give a fuck if you die, right? They'll just cook up a clone or something like that to replace you. Don't you see how pointless this is? Your entire life you've been told to follow orders because you were created to serve the country—save lives. Well this is one life you can save by not following orders. Please?" Pick licked his lips nervously. "I love her."

Centurion Alpha backed against the wall of the small room and started panting, sweat beads developing on his forehead as he debated with himself. "N-no!"

Pick glared at the Centurion. He was _done_ negotiating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You really think you can beat me without your big dog friend?" taunted White. "You should've let him kill me."

"Yeah, I should've," she replied as they circled each other. "But now I get the honor."

White took a swing at her, but she ducked and kicked him in the stomach. He caught her foot and twisted her leg, forcing her to jump in the air and twist along with it to prevent him from pulling it from its socket. He pushed her to the ground and kicked her in the side. "How do you like that, 452?"

"Shut up and fight," replied Max, pushing herself upward with her arms and kicking White in the face with both feet.

As White stumbled back, Max jumped to her feet and elbowed him across the face a few times, but it barely fazed him. After the third hit, his hand shot out and caught her arm.

"First lesson," he said. "Is to never, ever let your enemy get a hold of one of your limbs." Then, without flinching, he snapped her arm backwards so that it broke her humerus and slipped it out of its socket.

Max screamed in pain and her leg shot out, catching him in the knee. In the midst of her pain, however, she hadn't been able to muster the force to break his leg. He merely stumbled back with a curse, then raised his head and smiled.

"You're getting soft, 452. Is there something wrong? Can't handle a little pain?" He pulled a handgun from somewhere on his person and aimed it at her. "Here… this will take your mind off your arm…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick punched Brock across the face and ducked a high-kick. The other X5s were unsure of what to do—either of these Manticorians could beat an X5 to nothing more than a bloody pulp if they really wanted to, but X6s were significantly weaker than Centurions…

Zack was the first to step up. Brock had thrown Pick into the wall and was intent on bashing his face in when Zack calmly walked over and tapped the Centurion on the shoulder. Just as Brock was turning around—WHAM!

The other X5s cringed as Brock fell against the wall next to Pick, his mouth filling with blood from his busted lip. Centurion or not, a full-blown punch from Zack was anything but pleasant. The beating didn't stop there, however, since Zack grabbed Brock's collar and threw him against the ceiling, stepping out of the way as he came crashing back down.

"Go," said Zack as he watched the Centurion get up on hands and knees. "One or two of the helicopters are still here. Take one. Be careful."

"Zack…" Jondy began.

"That's an _order!"_ Zack shouted, kicking Brock in the side. "Now!"

"Zane, you carry Brin. Pick, you carry Eddie. I'll watch your backs," instructed Jondy. She gave Zack a kiss on the cheek. "Don't you dare die on me again."

Zack nodded and kicked the Centurion again as he tried to rise. "Just go."

"Alright, people, you heard him. We're moving out," said Jondy, arming herself with Brock's automatic. "He insinuated that there are soldiers outside just waiting for us, so watch yourselves." She kicked open the door and sure enough, there were two Centurions standing guard outside. They tried to jump into action as soon as the door opened, but unfortunately the door had smashed one of them into the wall and knocked him unconscious, and the other found himself in a very, very uncomfortable situation as Jondy's foot slammed between his legs. She then proceeded to knock him out by hitting him on the head with the butt of her gun.

"Good job," commented Zane, admiring her handiwork. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"Shut up," said Jondy, studying the floor intently. It was covered in nasty-looking glass. "You think Lydecker's reliable? 'Cause if not, we're gonna be in a lot of pain…" She motioned to their bootless feet.

"Only one way to find out," said Zane, stepping on the glass lightly. He took a few steps and was amazed to feel nothing. "Well I'll be damned. The old man was right."

Jondy grinned to herself as she led them down the hall. "I think our luck's run out. From what Lydecker said, these guys shouldn't be so easy. Are they playing around with us or something?"

"It's probably just that we surprised them… and we're gonna lose that advantage if we don't move fast," said Zane seriously. He adjusted Brin in his arms. "How are we supposed to get to the helicopters?"

Jondy looked outside the shattered window, gasping when she saw the buildings of Terminal City up in flames that jumped to the sky. "Holy shit! They're blowing the place to bits!"

"RPG!" yelled Pick, falling backwards to the ground.

Jondy looked up and had barely enough time to throw herself out of the way as a grenade propelled itself through the window to explode at the end of the hallway. A fireball swept from the explosion across the tile floor towards the five transgenics, ready to incinerate them.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Jondy shoved Pick and Zane out the window. She knew that if she jumped after them she would surely land on them, so she stepped back, ran forward, ducked, and hurled herself out the window. Sure enough, just as Lydecker had said, she practically flew across the street to the next building. She caught onto the fire escape and then dropped herself down with a sigh of relief.

Zane and Jondy landed on the ground just fine, but Pick had a rather rough landing. The younger transgenic hit the ground and immediately started flailing around, teetering on the edge of his balance. Zane had to hand Brin to Jondy and throw himself forward, catching Eddie before she hit the ground while Pick smashed face-first into the concrete.

"Stupid X6," growled Zane under his breath as he checked Eddie over to make sure she was alright. "Is Brin okay?"

Jondy nodded, shifting her little sister in her arms. Brin looked like a little rag doll. She was just a little over five feet tall, maybe 5' 2", whereas Jondy was a good 5 feet 8 inches.

"Alright, we've got bogies on the roof one o'clock," said Zane, relieving Jondy of her burden.

"I got it," said Jondy, looking through the scope of her gun. She was about to shoot the young man standing on the roof of a building holding a grenade launcher when suddenly Zane let out a rumbling roar that made her skin crawl. She turned and saw three Centurions standing behind her, a bit confused about the lion's roar they just heard. "Hello," she said before jamming the butt of her gun into one of their faces.

The other two immediately jumped into action, but Pick, who had laid Eddy against the side of a building, intervened. He punched one across the face, but it barely fazed him. The two smirked at the X6 and one picked him up by the seat of his pants and tossed him aside like a rag doll.

While they were distracted, Jondy and Zane thoroughly beat the third Centurion until they were sure he was gonna stay down—they didn't kill him, just knocked the shit out of him. The two Centurions that were left faced them with confident smirks.

"Hey!" shouted a voice from above.

Showing their intelligence, only one of the Centurions looked up while the other kept an eye on Jondy and Zane. Zack jumped from the window of the building and landed on top of her, cracking the cement underneath her body.

"You run and we won't tell if you don't," said Pick to the last Centurion, poking a gun into his back. "Come on. Give us your gun."

"Go to hell," was the response.

"So be it." Pick shook his head as the Centurion whipped around and took the gun from him, only to be shot several times in the back by Jondy as soon as he turned. The X6 took a step back to allow the Centurion's body to fall at his feet. "For some reason, they seem easier to kill nowadays."

"It's because they usually work under the protection of surprise," said Jondy. "You can always tell. They probably spent most of their time practicing stealth drills instead of hand-to-hand combat." She turned to Zack. "What happened with Alpha Ass?"

"He had six pairs of handcuffs in his pack. I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon," said the older X5 with a grin. "Get Eddie and Brin. We're going after Max."

"But we don't know where she is," protested Zane. "She could be anywhere."

"Trust me," replied Zack sternly. "She won't mind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max wasn't sure what hurt more… her arm (hanging loosely about half an inch from where it was supposed to hang) or her head, which was currently getting smashed against the ground continuously.

"Ames White!" Max yelled between bashes. Her eyes went crossed.

He was sitting on her stomach, knees pinning down her arms, while another Familiar that had shown up in the middle of the battle held her legs down. She didn't know why he didn't just shoot her. Were bad guys intentionally this stupid?

WHACK!

Ooh, that was a hard one. Max started planning how she was gonna get herself out of his. She estimated that her brain could take this kind of beating for five more minutes before it went dead. In that time, stupid good-for-nothing-Alec _should_ get done with his job. Wait… where _was_ Alec? She hadn't heard him scuffling with the other Familiars for awhile now… Under pressure and growing alarmed over the safety of her lover, Max quickly came up with an idea, but it was risky.

"You know… maybe I should just shoot you," said White, suddenly halting his assault on her head as if he had read her thoughts. He grabbed his gun and pointed it in between her eyes. "Any last words, four fifty-two?"

"Hey, White… Remember lesson number one? Here's lesson number two… always remember lesson one." At the risk of snapping her elbow, Max twisted her arm around to grab Ames' ankle and push his leg back, breaking it. "And don't call me 'four fifty-two!'"

"FUCKING SHIT!" Ames shouted at the top of his lungs as pain racked through his body. He shot one bullet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, that RPG launcher never tried to hit us again," commented Jondy as she and Zack made a quick stop at the supply room in hopes they would find something useful.

"Probably ran off to tell his bozo boss we mashed his thoroughbreds' faces in," Zack deadpanned, pulling open the supply room door.

"Oooh, I like!" Jondy squealed as she spotted the pile of grenades at the back of the room. "Now this is my kind of warfare." She picked up one of the grenades and then started stuffing them in her pack like a child in a candy store.

Zack leaned against the doorframe, using his long arms to grab some rounds and a fully-loaded automatic. "I didn't know we had excess weapons."

Jondy ignored him as she inspected a rocket-launcher sitting in a dusty corner. "Can I take it Zack? Please? Please, please, please, please, please?"

"Why are you asking me? Take it if you want, but I'm not carrying it," said Zack, rolling his eyes.

With another squeal of delight, Jondy slung the launcher over her shoulder and walked out, grenades dropping out of her overstuffed back as she did so. Zack sighed and picked up the little gray spheres as they fell.

"She should be somewhere around where we found Eddie and Pick's unit," declared Jondy, referring to Max.

"That's my guess," Zack replied. He put Jondy's dropped grenades in his pack. "But it'll take us awhile to find her… What if we're…"

"Too late? Not possible," called a voice.

Jondy and Zack looked up. "Alec?!" exclaimed Jondy. "How come you aren't with Max?"

"I was shoved off the roof of a five-story building and pulled three Familiars down with me. There was a minor scuffle afterwards, but Familiars don't have enough feline in them and their horrible landings made it an easy fight… it was then I noticed an explosion from a building a few blocks away and saw Jondy diving from the window…"

"Okay, okay, we get it," mumbled Zack. "You know where Max is. Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max shoved White off of her and jerked her leg, striking the Familiar sitting on her legs in the crotch. He gasped and fell to the side. She then timidly sat up and looked at the bullet hole in the cement. Reaching up, she touched her ear and felt warm, coppery blood there.

"Holy shit," she whispered in shock, realizing how close she had come to dieing.

"I'm not gonna miss next time," White said as he struggled to stand on his good leg.

Max jumped to her feet and blurred, shoving him with all her might. He fell back a bit, but somehow managed to right himself before he went toppling over.

"This fight is as good as won, White," barked Max, moving forward to shove him again.

"I don't think so," replied White cockily.

"Don't move! Don't move, or you're dead!" shouted a voice

Max froze in her tracks as she spotted the little red light trained on the middle of her chest. She looked up to see four new Familiars glaring at her. _Alec… where are you?!_ her mind screamed.

"You see, four fifty-two? This is a lose-lose situation. Give up," said Ames. "Tell me where my son is."

"Your son is happy. He's living with a normal family, having a normal life. His dad isn't a fucked up asshole with a stick halfway up his butt anymore," spat Max.

Ames cocked the trigger of his gun, his hand shaking uncontrollably. "You fucking bitch. How dare you!"

"You gonna shoot me, Ames?" Max narrowed her eyes at him. "It doesn't really matter. I'll never tell you where Ray is… and on top of that, you're gonna die. One of us that you didn't knock off is gonna come after you. And you're gonna die alone… without your precious son."

"Don't push me, four fifty-two," growled White.

"Shoot her!" urged one of the Familiars. "Just shoot her! She'll get away!"

"Stay out of this," Ames barked.

Max's heard was racing in her chest. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. Sweat beads rolled down her face from the heat of the fires of Terminal City. Where was Alec?

Voicing her thoughts, White asked, "Where is 494? We need to watch out for him, because he'll get help."

"494 wasn't here when we arrived, Sir," said one of the Familiars.

"He was fighting three Sons… did you see them?"

"No, Sir."

Ames cursed under his breath and suddenly didn't look so sure of himself. "Find 494."

"That won't be necessary."

The Familiars whirled around to see Alec standing behind them, along with Jondy, Zane, Zack, Brin, Pick, and Eddie. 

"I found a few friends to get the party started," said Alec with a smirk.

"Take care of them," ordered White. "I've got four fifty-two."

"I don't think so," said Alec, running forward with speed exceeding a normal X5's. He took the gun from White and shoved him over.

Meanwhile, Zack and Jondy jumped the other four Familiars. Guns went off, but none of the bullets hit their marks. Zane and Pick put down Brin and Eddie to jump into the disarray. Zack pulled a gun from his pack as he wrestled with one of the Familiars. He pulled the trigger four times, striking her in the chest, and she went down. She wasn't dead, however, and as Zack stood up to help Jondy she kicked him in the back of the knees, causing him to topple over once again.

Alec and Max faced down White, who was now barely bothered by his broken leg. He seemed to be getting energy from the sheer hatred he felt. Alec emptied the clip of the gun and tossed it aside pointedly.

"You fool," growled Ames.

"Don't be so sure," Alec replied. He jumped forward and kicked Ames across the face with both feet, but Ames caught his foot and threw him into the ground with staggering force.

"This is endgame," announced White, looking up at Max.

"Bite me." She punched him across the face and jumped onto his back, slamming her fists into his face with all her might.

Ames thrust his upper body downward, sending Max flying over his head. As soon as he stood, however, he found himself face-to-face with a very, very angry Alec.

"This is for me." He kicked him in the temple. "This is for Max." He punched him across the face. "This is for Logan." He punched him again. "And this is for Joshua." He grabbed the back of White's neck, ready to snap it.

"I don't think so."

Alec froze as he felt cold steel pressing into his neck. He peeked through the corner of his eyes to see a Centurion standing there with an automatic.

"You shoot Agent White and I'll be forced to terminate," declared the Centurion.

"Let's play dominos," interrupted Max, grabbing the Centurion's neck in a hold identical to Alec's. They found themselves in a very, very complicated situation. Alec was set to kill White, the Centurion was set to kill Alec, and Max was set to kill the Centurion.

Meanwhile, Jondy managed to get on top of her Familiar adversary. "Submit and I'll let you live," she said, placing a gun to his forehead.

"Go to hell."

Jondy closed her eyes and pulled the trigger, wincing as blood splattered all over her. Another shot rang out and she whirled around to see Zack's opponent crumple to the ground, blood spurting from the hole in her neck. Zane had ripped off his shirt and had wrapped it around his enemy's face. It was soaked with sweat and it would soon suffocate the Familiar to death. Pick had already taken care of his Familiar, who was lying lifeless on the ground.

Simultaneously, they turned to look at Max and Alec's predicament.

"Don't move or they're dead!" shouted the Centurion at the other X5s. Another Centurion pulled himself up the side of the building and ran over behind Max, putting a gun to her back as well.

"Well isn't this just dandy," mumbled Jondy, holding out a hand. "Calm down, guys. Just let Max and Alec go and we won't kill you."

"Tactical move," replied one of the Centurions. "But we won't fall for it. We're not moving until they let go of Agent White."

Zack and the others slowly came up behind Jondy, who was inching forward. "Come on, just put the guns down."

"Our orders are to take out all transgenics," barked one of the Centurions. "Our mission is to kill 452."

"Whoa, whoa… Let's not get too caught up in Manticore games," said Jondy.

"Stop moving!" shouted a Centurion. "Not another step. Take the bullets out of your gun."

Jondy immediately did as she was told but, unseen by the Centurion, left one bullet. She licked her lips and sighed. "We're gonna be stuck here for a long, long time."

"That's right," said Alec. "So let's end it." He looked at Jondy and suddenly she heard his voice… not inside her head, no… she _heard_ his voice. His neck was moving as if he were talking, but his mouth remained still.

_[The Centurions can't hear this, but you can. I have the same extra vocal chords that you do, so we can communicate through ultrasound]_ he said solemnly. _[I know you can hear me. I want you to get Max out of the way as soon as I move. Got it? Touch your ear if you can understand.]_

Jondy reached up and touched her ear.

Alec smiled. _[Good. On three… one… two… three!]_ He hit the Centurion behind him with his elbow, knocking the Centurion back into Max. They both toppled to the floor. The second Centurion fired, but instead of striking Alec or Max he hit White in the shoulder. Alec grabbed the gun from the Centurion, whipped White around so that he had him in a death grip with one arm, and placed the gun to his head. While he was doing this, Jondy had swooped in and pulled Max away from the dog pile. Zack shot and killed the two Centurions, leaving just Alec and White. The end was in sight.

"Alright, White, give up and I won't kill you," said Alec slowly.

"Haven't you learned anything?" White slammed his head against Alec, grabbed his gun, and shot him.

"NO!" screamed Max as Alec fell to the ground, blood pooling underneath him. She took the gun from her sister and pointed it at White.

"Here we are again… this cycle is getting boring," barked Ames. "And you don't have any bullets left."

Max cocked the trigger.

"She has one," said Jondy. "The hand is quicker than the eye."

White's eyes widened and he ducked.

A single shot rang out.

White yelled in surprise and everyone froze, but Ames remained unhurt. Max still had the gun trained on him.

"You missed," said White with a smirk. "Now it's my turn." He raised his gun and then—

BANG!

Blood splattered everywhere as the bullet hit White in the side of the head. He fell over, dead… at long last.

Max dropped the gun and ran over to Alec, who was sheet white and had his eyes closed. She gingerly touched his face and his eyes shot open. "Alec!"

"Damn… damn, damn, damn," grumbled the male X5, looking at the hole in the shoulder. "I won't be able to have sex for like a month with this."

"Alec… where did he hit you?" asked Max, tears running down her face.

"Safe place. I'm not gonna die, Maxie… Remember what Lydecker told us? About the safe spot to get shot?" He wiped a tear from her face with his thumb. "I'm okay."

Max suddenly narrowed her eyes at him. "You ASS! I thought you were dead!"

Alec laughed.

"Phew. That was close," said Jondy. She looked at Brin, who was grinning through her pain. "You are a brilliant, brilliant sista."

"What are you talking about?" asked Pick.

"Do you think Max had two bullets? That first 'bullet' was Brin. She made that sound and threw Ames off enough to let Max kill him."

"Oh …"

"Hey, can we stop talking and get Alec out of here? He may have gotten hit in the safe spot, but he's gonna bleed to death or catch hypothermia if we don't get him medical care _now,_" said Max.

"Alright. One of the choppers isn't too far. We'll head over there… but I think Zane and I will stay behind to collect bodies," announced Zack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so the war for Terminal City ended. Max, Alec, Brin, Jondy, Pick, and Eddie all looked out the window as they flew away, Jondy piloting the thing. The war had been won, but the home front was lost. Flames engulfed nearly every building in the city, sending waves of heat against the helicopter.

Just outside the perimeter, Ordinaries had gathered in the thousands, lining all sides of the city. They were dead silent. It was as if they were in some kind of trance. Nothing moved except the flames. No one knew what to do. Even the police and National Guard seemed at a loss for what was happening.

Zane and Zack had been left behind to gather up what bodies they could find and take off in the last helicopter. It was risky since there could still be Centurions left in the city, but they weren't going to leave their comrades to die in a fiery hellhole.

"Where are we going?" asked Max after a long silence.

"Washington," replied Jondy.

TBC…

One more chapter to go… then I'm finished… I'm all teary, you guys… : - )


	10. Epilogue

Disclaimer: See Part 1 

A/N: Omg… Epilogue you guys… *tear* :**(  I'm so proud. I FINISHED a story! Yay me! I think I will post yet _another_ chapter for like author's notes and crap… so I can ramble and sob and thank people… :-D

Summary: Um… epilogue…

The Siege 

by

Brin 

Everyday it's the same thing; another trend has begun

Hey kids, this might be the one

It's a race to be noticed and it's leaving us numb

Hey kids, we can't be the ones

With all of our fashion we're still incomplete

The God of redemption could break our routine

There's a new way to be human

It's nothing we've ever been

There's a new way to be human

New way to be human

And where is our inspiration when all the heroes are gone?

Hey kids, could we be the ones?

'Cause nobody's famous and nobody's fine

We all need forgiveness; we're longing inside

There's a new way to be human

It's nothing we've ever been

There's a new way to be human

It's spreading under my skin

There's a new way to be human

Where divinity blends

With a new way to be human

New way to be human

"New Way to be Human," by Switchfoot off their "New Way to be Human" album 

"Where are we gonna go? I can't stop anyone from leaving, but I'm through running and hiding and being afraid. I'm not gonna live my life like that anymore. Aren't you tired of living in darkness? Don't you want to feel the sun on your face? To have a place of your own where you can walk down the street without being afraid? They made us, and they trained us to be soldiers, to defend this country. It's time for them to face us and take responsibility, instead of trying to sweep us away like garbage. We were made in America and we're not going anywhere. So they call us freaks; who cares? Today I'm proud to be a freak. And today we're gonna make a stand, right here. Who's with me?" –Max

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

**Epilogue**

TWO MONTHS LATER

"One year ago this day the transgenics were freed from a Manticore facility just south of Seattle by Max Guevara, a transgenic herself, who had been held against her will at the facility for an extended period of time. Since that time, Dr. Shankar and Dr. Sam Carr of Seattle, through close observation of the transgenics' health patterns and blood work, have developed cures for paralysis, the common cold, chicken pox, cancer, and a number of diseases and conditions that were previously considered untreatable. A secret government operation milking millions of dollars in tax money to capture these transgenics was uncovered by Logan Cale, Max Guevara, and Alec Brady. The president was found to be part of this illegal operation several of my confidants and was immediately impeached from office. As soon as he left, X5 and police investigators found that he had illegally laundered at least three billion tax dollars for his own use. This would not have been uncovered had it not been for transgenics.

"Hundreds of lives have been saved by the work of Logan Cale, Max Guevara, and Alec Brady, who is a transgenic as well. But hundreds of lives have been lost as well—transgenic lives. Three months ago The City of New Hope, popularly known as Terminal City, was brutally attacked by the government using an advanced form of transgenics. New Hope was burned to the ground, and some of Seattle with it. Two hundred transgenic lives were lost that night.

"And now, at the beginning of a new presidential reign, we transgenics have been granted the rights of normal American citizens, along with extra protection from prejudice for the crimes committed against us. Months of rugged negotiation was a small price to pay for this day. The document concluding all that I have said here requires at least five transgenic signatures and five signatures from members of the cabinet, along with the president's. I am honored to—" Krit stopped talking as someone walked over and whispered in his ear. His face went from confused to excited to terrified. "Excuse me, I have to go. My wife's having a baby!" He quickly exited the scene, leaving an empty podium and shocked press.

Max elbowed Alec. "Finish it!"

Alec's eyes widened. "Me? But—"

Ignoring his protests, Max shoved Alec up to the podium. Cameras started flashing like one continuous stream of light, momentarily throwing the X5 off-guard. He waited for the press to finish their onslaught of pictures before looking down at the messily scribbled speech Krit had written down.

He cleared his throat and picked up where Krit left off, his voice a bit shaky. "I am honored to be here this night, to witness the dawning of a new American age. The new president, formerly the vice president, was helped in overthrowing the totalitarian system of the former president by… Krit Guevara and his confidants. From here, America should rise to glory once again, but it is clear that America will never be what it was before the Pulse. That in mind, let us welcome this new age and the new American way it will bring. Peace. Out."

A loud cheering broke out amongst the audience, and Alec timidly bowed his head before going back over to Max, who smiled and took his hand in hers.

The former vice president (recently sworn-in president) stepped up to the podium and a helper brought out the Transgen Treaty document. He pulled out a feather pen and signed it, then five members of the cabinet followed.

When they were done, all was silent. The first line of press even cowered back a bit as Zack stepped up to the podium and picked up the pen. Everyone held their breaths. He looked at them solemnly, then smiled, much to everyone's surprise. Cameras flashed like mad. He ducked his head and put his John Hancock on the first line, then handed the pen to Jondy, who did the same. One by one—Zack, Jondy, Max, Alec, Zane, and Brin signed the document. At first, everyone had decided on just Zack, Jondy, Max, Alec, and Krit signing the document because they were, essentially, the leaders of Terminal City. Max and Jondy protested, however, and soon Brin and Zane were lined up as well.

But they weren't the last to be added to the list.

A collective gasp went through the crowd as Pick and Eddie stepped into view. Eddie teetered on a crutch while Pick had one arm around her waist, helping her stay upright. Now the press went mad, suddenly shouting questions and rushing forward to try and interview the anomaly, the first one many of them had ever seen.

Eddie shielded her cat eyes, sensitive to the light of the flashes, as the X5s rushed forward to contain the crowd. Unlike the X series, anomalies were not made immune to the fear of public appearances. Years and years of living in the basement with minimal Ordinary contact had made them fearful and shy. Things were not improved when they escaped the basements and were forced to live underground. Truth be told, this was the first time Eddie had ever been in front of more than one or two Ordinaries at a time.

"That's enough! Stay behind the line!" shouted Zack, pushing the last camera behind the yellow safety line they had set up. "Don't you see she's scared? Stop flashing the cameras. All she's gonna do is sign the document."

Slowly, cautiously, Eddie limped up the podium and picked up the pen. She looked up at Pick timidly, and he only smiled back. Her brown eyes peeked out at the hundreds of people watching her every move, then turned downwards towards the simple piece of paper with several signatures on it. She steadied herself against Pick, leant forward, and signed the document.

The press looked like they were about to surge forward again, but they controlled themselves.

Pick took the pen from Eddie and signed the document—sealing it. Now an uproar of cheering and applause broke out, cameras flashing. The president shook hands with each of the transgenics and they were now open to press interview. It was one big madhouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After two hours of interviews and pictures, Max and the other transgenics discreetly snuck out through the back door. They headed to the hospital Syl was staying in, the excited feeling of her having a baby just now catching up with them. They must've looked a bit odd dressed in expensive dresses and tuxedos because the nurses and patients whispered as soon as they came in.

"Hi, I'm looking for Syl Guevara," said Max to the nurse at the desk.

"Are you family?"

"As close as she's gonna get."

"Room 503."

"Thank you." Max smiled and walked away, the others close behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Knock-knock," Jondy opened the door slightly and peeked in. Syl was lying on the hospital bed looking worn and haggard. Krit was by her side, holding a tiny pink bundle. "Oh my GAWD!" squealed Jondy under her breath, running over and peeking at the baby girl gleefully.

The others filed in, quietly closing the door behind them as to not disturb Syl or the baby.

Max walked around the side of the bed and took Syl's hand. "How are you?"

Syl smiled weakly. "Tired."

Max laughed and kissed her knuckles. "Understandable. You look like hell."

"Thanks, little sister," Syl replied, slowly shaking her head. "It was worth it." She looked over at the pink bundle Krit was cradling.

"Did you guys think of a name yet?" asked Jondy, folding back the blanket a bit to see a pudgy little face. "She looks just like Krit!"

"Her name… is Eve," said Krit with a smile.

"It's perfect. The first baby born after the treaty… the _first_ transgenic child to be legally free," said Jondy, her eyes sparkling. She looked up at Zack, who was looking a bit unnerved by her interest in the baby. "Maybe we should have one, Zacky."

Zack cringed; he had known that was coming.

"Alright, alright," interrupted Max. "Don't start fighting. I think, to commemorate this event, we should all… go home and rest. Eddie and Pick had the right idea when they skipped out early."

The other transgenics laughed.

"Yeah, I think Max has the right idea," said Zane. "Krit, Syl, congrats… but we're heading out.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max and Alec retreated to their hotel room, where they changed into casual clothes and flopped on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms.

"I love you, Maxie," he whispered, stroking her silky locks.

"I love you too, Alec," she replied, kissing him.

"You know, we're free now. After twenty long years… we can finally say we're free. It's surreal, isn't it? All the running, all the hiding… it's over."

"No more missions. No more dead siblings…" Max smiled up into his emerald green eyes. "And I'm with you."

Alec grinned back. "And we lived happily ever after."

_finis_

Sequel? Hmm… I dunno


	11. Redundant End Notes

**Author's End Notes** for The Siege

Ok, you guys, we've reached the end (coughcough**finally**coughcough). I love everyone who read and reviewed! You're all **_WONDERFUL_**! And those who read and didn't review… never mind. LoL ^_~

Here's the list of my wonderful, wonderful reviews who I will love forever:

Gabbie760 

Mel (melmrox@hotmail.com)

Lauren

Wondertross 

**Zaz**

MaxCat452 

Joe (joemcardle@attbi.com)

Hearns 

**Lady Percephone Frost**

Sapphirefairy 

**Shimemore**

**Gaeriel Mallory**

Jessica (kitiara1304@yahoo.com)

Iz MstValuableplaya X5-368 Kim 

Anwyway

Anonymous

Clio

Dia

True Blue Healer LuLina 

Amelia

Brat64 Manticore-gurl071134 Baloo 

X-6_494 (amanda_woodward_mp@hotmail.com)****

Jen

AnnDee 

Starr

Brynnmissy

Miroslava

Mely

Riley 

Cait

Lutheyl

DragonAnthony MagnusXXN 

Jen

Rosie 

Andrea

Imagina Scarlet 

Emma

Space_Man

RPGirl17

**Space-Man** (same person as Space_Man?)

Eve

Me

Deb 

Lyla

Bkroom

Fin Tuscany 

Emma68

Smiley

Catrona_leslie (catrona_leslie@yahoo.com)

Em

Jacey

Ginger 

Max&Alec4eva (flysky29@hotmail.com)

Krys (teamlakers@aol.com)

Chadswifey

Lani Chic Mija 

If I skipped you then send me an evil email. The ones in bold (tho some may not show up cuz Ff.net sometimes doesn't show the bold and italics on my docs) have ff.net accounts and I highly recommend reading their stories as well!

As for a sequel, the wheels in my head are turning and a sequel is almost 99% guaranteed… I'm still surprised you guys are interesting in reading anything I've written LoL. A few things that _are_ going to happen in the sequel are:

SPOILER ALERT 

**__**

Max and Alec—wedding bells.

Eddie gets adopted by…?

Brin and Zane—wedding bells.

Jondy and Zack—wedding bells.

Eddie meets back up with Centurion Alpha—angst ensues.

M/L angst (it's inevitable).

Transgenics must deal with Ordinary prejudice.

Deeper entanglement with cult.

I was also thinking about writing a prequel about Pick and Eddie. Or maybe a prequel with Jondy, Zack, Krit, and Brin? Maybe both. Anyway, to wrap things up, thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing…

_finis_

**~Brin**


End file.
